Youth, 14, Held After Mother Is Shot in Head

A 14-year-old boy shot his mother in the forehead as she sat at the kitchen table Friday, then admitted the killing “with a smirk on his face,” police said.

No motive was revealed.

The youth dialed 911 at 4:36 p.m., saying he had just shot his mother and wanted to turn himself in for the crime, said Chahe Keuroghelian, a Glendale police spokesman.

“The 14-year-old suspect had just shot his mother once in the forehead and killed her at the kitchen table,” Keuroghelian said. “He neither was shocked nor surprised nor emotional. With a smirk on his face he said he shot and killed his mother.”

“He was actually smiling and smirking,” said Police Sgt. Rick Young.

“It’s a real tragedy,” Young said. “They keep getting younger and younger. It’s very scary.”

Police declined to identify the woman pending notification of relatives.

The boy, who was not identified because of his age, was being questioned by police Friday night.

According to witnesses, the boy ran from the family’s apartment on Sinclair Avenue carrying a handgun and yelling after the shooting. He ended up at nearby Glendale High School, and there dialed 911 from a public phone, where officers found him.

They detained him until other officers confirmed that the mother was dead. The boy was arrested without incident on suspicion of murder, officials said.

“All we know is that this was not accidental,” Keuroghelian said. Police said officers found the alleged weapon, a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, in bushes outside the apartment complex where the boy and his mother lived.

It was unclear who owned the gun, police said.

Authorities said the boy was not believed to have any previous criminal record. Police had no record of trouble within the family, officers said.

Police said the boy would be in custody through the weekend with arraignment likely on Monday.

The shooting left neighbors shaken.

Cynthia Gomez, who lives nearby, said she saw the boy sitting with a blank look inside a patrol car.

“He seemed like he didn’t care,” Gomez said. “It seemed like he thought it was a big joke.”