A domestic dispute turned violent just after midnight Christmas morning when a 64-year-old man allegedly shot his wife in the stomach, sheriff's deputies said.
The shooting took place during a Christmas party at the couple's home just after midnight Thursday morning, according to Deputy Miguel Ruiz, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lancaster station.
The woman was rushed to a local hospital at 12:33 a.m. from the Lancaster home on the 2700 block of East Avenue J-4, according to an LA County Fire Department spokesperson.
She was alive, with stable life signs, Ruiz said Saturday.
Deputies were dispatched at 12:30 a.m. Christmas morning to the residence and came upon Thomas Silas in the front yard, still holding his handgun, Ruiz said.
Silas cooperated with the deputies' orders to drop the handgun and he was detained without further incident, he said.
Earlier, Silas had gotten into an argument with his wife about financial issues, Ruiz said.
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"The suspect retrieved a handgun from inside his home and confronted his wife by telling her to shoot him with it,'' he said. "She declined so the suspect shot her in the abdomen.''
Ruiz said the couple's adult daughter and other family members were in the home for a holiday party.
Silas was transported to the Lancaster station jail and charged with attempted murder and domestic violence. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
He was transferred Friday to the North County Correctional Facility, and will appear in court Monday in Division 139 of the North Valley Municipal Court in San Fernando.
