Alton - An Alton man is behind bars for attempted murder. Police say David O'Clair, 51, was arrested early Saturday morning after threatening to kill his wife.

He made his first court appearance on Monday via video from Penobscot County Jail.

According to court documents, O'Clair was drinking, got into a fight with his wife, and said he was going to kill her and then himself.

The court documents explain she was trying to get the gun away from him. Somewhere during the struggle, the gun went off, but missed her.

"From what I understand, he had the gun pointed at her head, she pushed it away from her head and there was a struggle over the weapon and that's the point where the gun was discharged. We don't know if it was deliberately discharged or just as a result from the struggle, but there clearly was the intent to bring the gun back to bear upon her," said Deputy District Attorney Mike Roberts.

Court documents say, during the fight, O'Clair also grabbed his wife around the throat and started to choke her. According to the affidavit, she eventually did get ahold of the gun and threw it into the woods. Police say she ran off and hid until authorities arrived on scene.

In addition to aggravated attempted murder, O'Clair is facing three domestic violence related charges: reckless conduct, criminal threatening and aggravated assault.

The judge set bail at $50,000 cash or $200,000 surety.

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