A 28-year-old man has allegedly killed his mother after a video game tantrum.

On Thursday night (local time) Matthew Nicholson was playing a video game in his bedroom at his parent's house in northern California, when he began to yell.

His mother, 68-year-old Lydia Nicholson, went to check on him and they began to argue.

During the dispute, Matthew broke his gaming headset and blamed her, threatening to kill her and his father.

"He grabbed a gun and started shooting," police told local media.

After firing into the wall and around the room, he allegedly shot his mother in the head.

"He would've killed the father too, but the gun jammed," a family friend told Fox 40.

"The father grabbed the gun, emptied it."

Matthew then fled the scene, with police catching up to him near a relative's home and arresting him for homicide.

He is being held without bail at Sanislaus County Jail.

Ms Nicholson was rushed to hospital, where she soon died.

Newshub.