COVENTRY, Conn. -- Minutes after a shooting, an armed man carrying his toddler stormed into a Coventry tavern, where almost 50 people watched on in fear Monday evening.

Police from dozens of towns converged at the scene from which frantic 911 callers told police a man had walked in with a child and a gun.

An employee of the Bidwell Tavern on Main Street in Coventry, nicknamed by co-workers as Junior, was covered in blood when he ran into the bar. Some witnesses said they heard him tell the staff he had just shot his wife. Witnesses said the man was a dishwasher at the bar and moved to Coventry three weeks ago with his two young children and wife.

State police identified the man on Tuesday as Alfredo Ferrer, 43. He was held on $1 million bond and was due in Rockville Superior Court Tuesday to face charges of attempt to commit murder, assault, assault of a pregnant person, risk of injury to minors, reckless endangerment, and several firearms charges.

"I was looking out the window and every minute there was a cop going by," said restaurant patron John Clark, of Coventry.

Video: Witnesses Share Fearful Story

Ferrer told responding officers that he planned on shooting himself, police said. Authorities convinced Ferrer to drop the gun and release the child. While negotiating with Ferrer, police said he told officers that he had shot and injured a woman who had been in his apartment.

The child was transported to an area hospital for evaluation and the man was taken into police custody. Witnesses said that Ferrer's second child ran from the apartment to the tavern after the shooting. They said patrons inside, who had all huddled in the basement, consoled the child.

The child was not injured and both children have been taken into state custody, Eyewitness News reported.

Woman Shot Near Tavern

Minutes before Ferrer stormed the bar, Amanda Realie, 27, was shot inside a neighboring apartment complex, Eyewitness News reported. Realie was reported to have several months pregnant and that she was shot in the head.

Realie was airlifted to Hartford Hospital via LIFE STAR medical helicopter, where she was listed in extremely critical condition.

Witnesses Describe Chaotic Scene Inside Tavern

Melissa Smith was inside the tavern with four of her friends for her bachelorette party. She said that everyone was being kept inside the restaurant and away from the windows.

"There were kids, everyone just went running under the bar," she said. "The next thing I heard was the waitresses screaming, 'Everybody to the front, everybody to the front. ... People were down on the ground, and then, the lady kept screaming, 'Oh my God, he's by the door, get away from the windows.'"

The patrons inside the restaurant had spent at least two hours inside by the time police arrested Ferrer.

"We basically just had to wait it out ... it was like you were watching a movie," Smith said.

State police continue to investigate the incident.