A woman panhandling in downtown Sacramento Monday evening pulled out a gun and shot a disabled man who refused her money, scattering a terrified crowd gathered at a busy bus stop, police said.

The 54-year-old victim, identified by family members as Frank Perez of Linda, suffered a shot in the abdomen and was in critical condition at U.C. Medical Center. Family members said that he is expected to survive.

A short time after the shooting, police arrested Audrey Jackson, 47, who has no known address. She was spotted by an alert Regional Transit bus driver, who matched the description of the shooter to a passenger in his bus and notified police.

Police boarded the bus at Riverside Boulevard and Broadway and she was arrested on a charge of suspicion of attempted homicide.

Relatives of Perez, who walks with a cane and has cerebral palsy, poured into the hospital lobby from all over Northern California Monday night.

"Why would someone ask money from someone who is obviously disabled?" asked his younger brother, Adrian Perez. "This is really outrageous."

Frank Perez had been waiting for a bus on a bench near J and Sixth Street at about 3:30 p.m. when the woman approached him, said Sacramento Police Officer Konrad Von Schoech.

She asked for money and when Perez refused, she shot him once in the abdomen, took aim again, but the gun wouldn't fire, according to Sgt. Stephen Lau.

Because witnesses said she had aimed the gun at his head at one point, police decided on the attempted homicide charge. Police had conflicting reports about whether the woman had approached other people in the area for money.

Witnesses said the shooter walked to Ninth Street and boarded a bus.

Adrian Perez, who lives in Natomas and is publisher of the Latino Journal, a bi-monthly publication, said his older brother works for the state Water Resources Control Board, delivering office supplies.

He lived in Sacramento until a month ago when he moved to Linda to be near his mother who is recovering from surgery, relatives said. He caught the 3:30 p.m. Yuba-Sutter Transit every work day at the bus stop.

Frank Perez's niece, Iztac Soto, said she usually rides the bus with him, but she ran late Monday and drove her car.

She said the bus stop was always so crowded, she felt safe there.

Family members described Frank Perez as a man of strong opinions and would certainly decline to fork over money to someone who appears able-bodied.

The bold shooting terrified the late afternoon crowd gathered near the well-used bus stop just feet from busy J Street. One of the two benches at the bus stop was blood-stained Monday evening as officers worked.

Fred Thomas of San Francisco was getting money from an ATM machine when he heard the gunfire. He turned to see about a dozen people scrambling and screaming.

"I was thinking this can't be real," he said.

People were able to flag down a passing fire truck, Thomas said. Firefighters called an ambulance.

The victim was apparently able to help flag the fire truck, according to Lau.

After the shooting, Joe Huddleston was walking along J Street when the suspect passed him, mumbling to herself, he said.

Jackson is not a regular visitor to Loaves and Fishes, one of the region's largest agency providing services to the homeless, said Sister Libby Fernandez, the director.

Clients of Loaves and Fishes are not armed or gun owners, she said.

Adrian Perez, who said his brother hails from a large family, said: "I also pray for this woman because there is something obviously something very wrong with her. You don't go out and shoot a total stranger when they don't give you money."

Mark Lonergan, chief of operations for RT, said that right after the shooting police contacted RT radio control dispatchers and asked them send out a message to bus drivers in the area.

The bus driver recognized the woman on his bus as the suspect and radioed police.

Police instructed him to pull over, then came aboard and arrested the suspect, Lonergan said.

"This is how the system is supposed to work," he said.