Boy Watches Gunmen Shoot Mother Dead Before Helping Badly Injured Father Call 911

6-year-old boy scrambled to help his badly injured father call 911 after watching gunmen shoot his mother dead.

The little boy had been hiding in the family's truck when his parents, Wilma and Jonathan Hochstetler, were shot by two robbers in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Thursday.

Family friend, Andrew Yutzy, told news channel WSAZ that 40-year-old Wilma Hochstetler had driven to Indianapolis with the little boy to take a new trailer to her husband. She had been helping him fix broken lights when they were ambushed.

He said: "At that time, two individuals walked up on them. Wilma saw them coming and yelled to Jonathan, but it was too late.

Newsweek subscription offers >

"They robbed them of Wilma's phone and both of their wallets and were walking away, and they turned around and came back and just point-blank shot Wilma and then Jonathan."

The media outlet said that Jonathan Hochstetler was shot in the neck and called for his son to fetch his phone so he could call 911.

The child, who had been hiding in the truck, was uninjured. His mother was declared dead at the scene and his father was rushed to hospital.

Yutzy said the little boy did not realize that his mother was dead and had expected her to get up.

He said: "I guess as a 6-year-old boy, you don't realize what really happened. 'Mom's gonna get up again.' He doesn't realize that his mom is gone."

Yutzy paid tribute to Wilma Hochstetler, who lived in Worthington, and said she had spent her last day on earth helping her husband.

WSAZ reported that friends said faith and family guided everything Wilma Hochstetler did, from mission trips to the roofing business she shared with her husband. WSAZ reported that she had met Jonathan Hochstetler as a teenager and the two had four children.

Yutzy added: "They were in the same church and the same youth group and I guess they were both kind of shy people. Two shy people met each other and fell in love.

"They were just always the people that were there with a smile, and literally, they would give the shirt off their back if it would help you."

The media outlet said Jonathan Hochstetler is now recovering at the hospital after undergoing surgery on his back with doctors having to fuse together three of his vertebrae.

Police are investigating the shooting and have not yet released descriptions of the suspects.

Anybody with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers.