Gretchen Crooks Allegedly Killed By 13-Year-Old Son Using Hunting Rifle

A 13-year-old Iowa boy is accused of killing his mother by firing multiple rounds from a .22 caliber hunting rifle into her chest.

"It's a damn tragedy, you know. These are good people," Mitchell County Sheriff Curt Younker told The Huffington Post.

Authorities announced Wednesday morning that the boy is charged with murder and will be tried in juvenile court.

Police say that 37-year-old Gretchen Crooks died from her wounds on Saturday in what is believed to be the first homicide in Mitchell County in over 100 years.

Emergency crews were dispatched to the Crooks family's rural Osage home at approximately 7:31 p.m. when authorities received a 911 call from the young accused shooter. Sheriff Younger told the Des Moines Register that the boy was "calm and stoic" during the phone call, which is currently being held as evidence.

Investigators are uncertain why the boy would shoot his mother. There is no record of domestic disputes at the home and teachers say the boy showed no warning signs at Osage Middle School.

“We’re at a loss,” Younger told the Register. “It is the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen.”

Earlier this week the authorities took the boy to North Iowa Juvenile Detention Center in Waterloo.

The Mitchell County Attorney's office told Huff Post that at this time they have no comment on the case.