NEW ORLEANS — A 12-year-old is behind bars, booked with attempted second degree murder.
The victim in this incident is the boy's mother, who's currently trying to survive at a local hospital.
"I came out and the block was full of emergency, police, fire department, ambulances," said neighbor Gail Hughes. "So we assumed someone must've broken in during the night and she was fighting for her children, she was fighting for her life. And it just turned out it wasn't like that at all."
There's heartbreak along the 1400 block of South Roman Street, as people try and understand why.
"There are no words," Hughes said.
New Orleans Police say Wednesday, around 7:30 a.m., a 12-year-old boy shot his mother in the head. With no motive known, neighbors say they're shaken.
"It has devastated this neighborhood because it's nothing you'd expect from this child," Hughes said.
The mother is in critical condition at the hospital, her son was arrested after police say they found a semi-automatic handgun and a used casing in the boy's bedroom. He was booked with attempted second degree murder.
"What was involved in the investigation?" asked Eyewitness News Legal Analyst Chick Foret.
Foret says there are a lot of unknowns that'll factor into how the case moves forward.
"So we got to look at the scientific evidence at this point," he said. "Was there any residue on his hand indicating he had fired the weapon? Was he interviewed or did he voluntarily give a statement? Did he give a statement perhaps it was self defense? So we don't know any of these facts."
The charge is serious, especially for someone so young. And as details continue to emerge, people are hoping the truth is found and the mother recovers.
We reached out to NOPD for information on this shooting and were told there were no updates at this time. A release, sent Wednesday, says there were three people home at the time of the shooting: The mother, her 12-year-old son and her two-year-old daughter.