LOS ANGELES (AP) — A sleeping 8-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the head when a masked gunman arguing with the boy’s father opened fire inside a Los Angeles home and a bullet went through a bedroom wall, police said.

The gunfire erupted shortly before midnight Sunday as the father tried to disarm the suspect, Officer Liliana Preciado said.

The shooter fled, and authorities searched for him early Monday as the boy underwent surgery. The child was in critical but stable condition.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the gunman forced his way into the home or was let in by family members.

At least 10 shots were fired, and one bullet penetrated a bedroom wall and hit the sleeping boy, officials said.

Officers shut down the street in front of the house as they searched for the gunman in the residential Del Rey neighborhood near Venice Beach.

No other family members were injured. The young victim’s 17-year-old brother also was in the bedroom at the time of the shooting. The victim’s mother and grandmother were in another room.

The father told detectives the suspect, whose face was obscured by some kind of covering, fled after the shooting. It wasn’t known if he left on foot or in a car.

The family had left the front door unlocked because they were expecting another relative to come home, according to Officer Sara Faden.