A 20-year old Newhall man is clinging to life at a local hospital after an apparent suicide attempt at the Goodwill Industries store in Saugus.

Deputies arrived at the store to find the man, who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, on the floor of a back office of the charity.

Security cameras showed the man in the area looking through an area in the office where odd donations are kept. He picked up the .22 caliber gun, which was smaller than a derringer, and put it up to his head, pulling the trigger.

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Sgt. Darren Harris said it was not known whether the gun was a donation or an item kept in the office, and that the initial call was to respond to someone shot by a cap gun.

“The message here is that no matter how small a gun may appear, it still can have deadly consequences,” Harris said.

The area where the shooting took place was not accessible to the public. The victim’s identity was not released, other than noting that he was an employee of Goodwill.