(CNN) -- A 9-year-old Alcoa, North Carolina, boy shot and killed his mother before taking his own life, according to the Warren County Sheriff's Department.
Taylor Jones apparently killed his mother, 38-year-old Gloria Pulley, shortly after midnight Saturday morning, the department said. He left a suicide note in which he apologized for her death.
Authorities have not been able to determine a motive.
"They were a very nice family. I never had any problem with none of them," said Warren County Sheriff John Williams, who said he knew the family personally.
Jones is said to have had a good relationship with his family members and friends, Williams said. There was no obvious discord between him and his mother, he said, and it's unknown if he was on any type of medication or if he had any mental or emotional issues.
Williams said family members became worried over the weekend after not seeing Pulley or Jones for more than a day. Pulley's brother and mother, who live nearby, kicked in the front door of the home Saturday and found the two bodies in one of the bedrooms.
"A family gun" was used in the shootings, Williams said, but it's unknown where and how the weapons was stored.
Autopsy results released to law enforcement by the North Carolina Medical Examiner's office confirm the shooting was a murder-suicide, Williams said.
Jones' father, Pulley's ex-husband, lives in Georgia.
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