Man Tells 911 He Fatally Shot His Wife At Home While Their 4 Children Were Inside

A man called 911 and told dispatchers that he shot and killed his wife while their four kids were inside their North Carolina home.

The Mooresville Police Department (MPD) received a call at around 5:15 p.m. Sunday from a man saying that he shot his wife at their residence at 177 Laurel Glenn Drive in the Cherry Grove neighborhood. Upon reaching the scene, officers found Annalene Julia Trocke, 39, deceased from a gunshot wound, WFIN reported.

"The caller advised telecommunicators that he had shot his wife," the department said in a Facebook post. "Detectives responded to the scene and began an investigation into the incident."

After collecting the evidence and interviewing him, detectives charged the deceased woman's husband, Derik Thomas Trocke, of the same age, with first-degree murder. He was placed in the Iredell County Detention Center with no bond. Police were, meanwhile, investigating a motive behind the tragic incident.

The couple had four children, aged between 1 year and 13 years, inside the home when the incident happened, neighbor Izwak Torres told WSOCTV.

"Four children – it's horrible, horrific," Torres told the outlet, adding, "I would just urge everyone of the faith to send prayers out for this entire family and what they're going to have to go through. It's just horrible."

Torres added the neighbors called the kids to make sure they were okay amid all the police action.

"We noticed there was a lot of action, a lot of police cars headed in this direction, so we called the kids to make sure there was nothing going on...as soon as we were calling them they were calling us and they were freaking out because all of this was going on, that's not something you see in this area," Torres said, as per WBTV.

Neighbors further informed the four children were immediately moved out of the crime scene as police spent hours collecting evidence. They added they often saw the deceased mother and the children in the family yard but never saw any red flags that might prompt something was wrong.

"They seemed like a very nice family," another neighbor named Crystal Pressley said. "There weren't any signs that I could pick up, but I guess you never know, I guess."