A 59-year-old Palama woman used her own 9 mm Beretta handgun to shoot a 59-year-old man at a Samoan church in Kalihi on Saturday, according to court documents.

Violesolo Tavita of North King Street was being held Monday at Oahu Community Correctional Center on a charge of second-degree attempted murder and two firearm violations. Her bail was set at $250,000, and she has a preliminary hearing set for Wednesday.

Tavita pulled a handgun from her black purse and shot Talaiga Talitonu in the upper right side of his back at about 1 p.m. Saturday, according to a police affidavit filed in Honolulu District Court. The shooting happened at the Samoa-Tokelau Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 1128 Banyan St.

A church elder, Tony Williams, told police that he was walking behind Talitonu and Tavita when he heard a loud “pop” and saw Tavita holding a dark handgun. Talitonu yelled and fell to the ground.

Williams said he grabbed the handgun from Tavita’s right hand and held her until police arrived, documents said.

The gun was recovered at the scene and is registered to Tavita, documents said.

Witnesses said Talitonu, of Kalihi, had just been baptized in a mass celebration when he was shot in front of a second-floor classroom.

The church service had just ended, and some 60 to 100 people, including children, were entering the courtyard below, witnesses said.

Emergency Medical Services workers treated Talitonu and took him in stable condition to a hospital.

Court documents and police did not disclose a motive for the shooting or the relationship between Talitonu and Tavita.