A Kunkletown man is charged with the shooting death of his 83-year-old father on Friday.

The Troop N Major Case Team said it is investigating a homicide at 110 Birch Lane, Chestnuthill Township.

The investigation revealed the victim, Nicholas Joseph Colatrella, 83, of Kunkletown, died as a result of gunshots to the face and head.

According to court documents, dispatchers received a call that a man shot his father.

Troopers then called the man, Rick Colatrella, and he said it was too late, that he had shot his father.

The troopers then drove to the house on Birch Lane near Weir Lake Road. Colatrella was reportedly on his knees in the road with the firearm nearby.

They arrested him. Colatrella reportedly told troopers that he did not mean to kill his father, but it “had to be done.”

A trooper said Colatrella told him that he had ‘saved his life’ without being any more specific. Rick Colatrella, 49, of Kunkletown, was taken into custody on scene and transported to the Fern Ridge station.

Rick Colatrella was charged with criminal homicide.

He was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Colleen Mancuso and remanded to Monroe County Correctional Facility without bail.

The Monroe County District Attorney’s Office assisted in this investigation.