A 30-year-old Winston County man is behind bars after authorities say he killed his parents on Christmas Eve, and then called 911 to report the deaths.

Addison Police Chief Mitchell Woodard said his department received a call at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday from the Winston County Sheriff’s Office. The dispatcher said a caller was on the line who said he had killed his parents.

“I advised her to keep him on the line and we’d head that way,’’ Woodard said.

Two of the Addison Police Department’s four officers got on the scene first. They arrived to find Allen Hollis Privett standing in the front yard. He was still on the call with the dispatcher.

“We took him into custody without incident,’’ the chief said.

Officers then entered the house where they found both victims. Frank Privett, 71, was unresponsive in a recliner. Rita Privett, 63, was on the kitchen floor. “There was nothing we could do in terns of life-saving measures,’’ Woodard said. Both were pronounced dead on the scene.

The couple’s son told officers he’d been in a fight with his parents, which led to the shooting. No additional details about the nature of the argument have been released.

Allen Privett remains held in the Winson County Jail. The sheriff’s office has taken over as lead agency for the investigation.

Woodard said homicides are rare in the small town. “It’s something we don’t have happen much here,’’ he said, “but it happens here like everywhere else.”

The chief said he knew the family, but said his department had no previous dealings with them in an official capacity.