Story highlights Officials: The mayor and his wife were arguing when their son intervened

The mayor was shot in the upper body several times

The Crespos were high school sweethearts

The mayor of Bell Gardens, California, was shot and killed by his wife during an apparent domestic dispute Tuesday, officials said.

Daniel Crespo, 45, and his wife, Levette, were arguing Tuesday afternoon when their 19-year-old son intervened, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

The father and the son began physically fighting, and the wife got a handgun and shot Crespo in the upper body several times, the department said.

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Crespo was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The wife, 43, was taken into custody, but officials did not charge her. They also didn't release a motive for the couple's argument.

"The facts of the case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office who will determine if criminal charges will be filed," the sheriff's department said.

Crespo married Levette, his high school sweetheart , in 1986. The couple also have a daughter.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Crespo moved to Bell Gardens in the 1980s. He worked as a probation officer, a job he held even after becoming mayor of the city of 42,000, about 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles.