The 911 call came in late on Monday. It was from a 14-year-old boy in Elkmont, Ala., with an alarming story of gunfire coming from upstairs in his family’s home.

But on Tuesday the case took a disturbing turn: The boy confessed that he had fired the shots, killing his father, his stepmother and his three siblings, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Department said.

The 14-year-old, whose name was not released, helped investigators retrieve the handgun that he said he had used in the shootings before tossing it on the side of a road, the sheriff’s department said. He has been charged as a juvenile with five counts of murder, said Deputy Stephen Young, a department spokesman.

One adult and two children died at the house, while an adult and the third child died in hospitals, according to the department. The father and stepmother were identified by the Sheriff’s Department as John Sisk, 38, and Mary Sisk, 35. The names of the suspect and the three siblings — ages 6, 5 and 6 months old — were not released.