A Grand Junction man has been arrested in the investigation of murder in the death of his 13-year-old autistic son, authorities say.
Allen Lee Grabe, 51, was being held on $1 million bond following the Thursday shooting of his son at his home on the 3000 block of Wedgewood Avenue, authorities said.
According to local media reports, neighbors heard gunshots before deputies took Allen Grabe away in handcuffs.
Mesa County Sheriff’s Department officials did not identify the boy but neighbors said he was Jacob Grabe, an eighth grader at Grand Mesa Middle School.
Allen Grabe is also being held in the investigation of child abuse causing death, said Heather Benjamin, spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.
Benjamin said police were called to the home Thursday at 9:53 p.m. and found Grabe’s teenage son.
A Mesa County Coroner’s Office employee said he could not discuss any findings of an autopsy.
Phyllis Patton, 70, who lives across the street said she awoke Thursday night to the sounds of yelling and her dog barking.
“The neighborhood is real quiet today,” she said. “Everyone feels a sense of sadness.”
Patton said she kept her distance from the Grabes after repeatedly seeing Allen Grabe in his front yard throwing his hands up in the air and laughing and talking to himself.
“He was always talking to himself,” she said. “They usually kept to themselves and didn’t have much to do with neighbors.”
He had his own window installation business, she said. His truck with ladders attached to the sides was still in front of the home, she added.
But Jacob sometimes played with her grandchildren when they came over to visit her, she said.
“He was just a real quiet little boy,” Patton said. “He was small for his age. He was mostly isolated from other kids. He was just kind of different.”
At times, Patton said she would hear the Grabes yelling at Jacob, who would retrieve the mail from the mailbox each day and quickly go inside the home.
According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records, Allen Grabe does not have a criminal record in Colorado.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
