Otay Mesa

Prison guards at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, the state prison on Otay Mesa, fired two shots at quarreling inmates Tuesday, striking one.

The inmate who was shot was treated for superficial wounds, prison spokesman Lt. J. Sandlin said.

The incident took place shortly after 10 a.m. when guards noticed inmate James Johnson striking fellow convict Dietrich Lee on the head with a large rock in the minimum-security prison’s recreation yard, Sandlin said. Guards fired two shots into the yard.

Johnson, who is serving time for a second-degree murder conviction, was struck by one of the bullets. Lee, a convicted robber, was not hit by gunfire, but was treated at the prison’s medical ward for a mild concussion and bruises he received during the beating. Both men are in stable condition, Sandlin said.

Prison authorities did not immediately know what prompted the fight.