An 11-year-old boy in Pennsylvania allegedly shot his father after his Nintendo Switch was taken away from him.
Douglas Dietz, 42, was found dead at his home in the early hours of Tuesday morning(January 13) with a gunshot wound to his head.
His son, Clayton, has been charged with criminal homicide, according to documents obtained by local outlet WGAL News 8.
The news site, citing the document, said officers from Pennsylvania State Police responded to reports of an ‘unresponsive male’ on South Market Street at around 3.20am.
Officers found Douglas dead in his bedroom, which is connected to their son’s room by a closet, the document said.
Following an investigation, authorities identified the man’s 11-year-old son as the suspect.
Police said the incident happened on Clayton’s birthday, with the shooting occurring just hours after his parents sang ‘happy birthday’ to him.
Douglas’s wife, who has not been named, told police she was awoken by a loud noise and smelled something similar to fireworks.
She said her husband was unresponsive after she tried to nudge him.
She added she heard what she thought was water dripping, only to find that when she turned on the lights, it was actually blood, according to the documents.
Police said Clayton entered his parents’ bedroom shouting, ‘Daddy’s dead’ while officers at the scene said they heard the young boy tell his mother, ‘I killed Daddy’.
The document said Clayton told the officers investigating the incident that he became ‘mad’ when his father told him to go to bed.
Police said Clayton admitted, ‘I shot somebody’ when asked by officers about what happened, according to the affidavit.
‘He admitted that he had someone in mind whom he was going to shoot, who he identified as his father,’ the document stated.
It is understood that the 11-year-old found a key to his father’s drawer, unlocking a safe in an attempt to find his Nintendo Switch, which was previously taken away from him.
The document said Clayton removed a gun and loaded bullets before ‘walking over to his father’s side of the bed’ and firing a shot at Douglas.
Police said Clayton’s mother knew about a gun being in the bedroom, but did not know where the key to the drawer was kept.
Authorities noted that Douglas and his wife had adopted Clayton in 2018.
Neighbours expressed their shock about the incident, which happened within a close-knit community, describing the family as ‘nice’ and ‘kind’, the news outlet reported.
Pennsylvania State Police said the 11-year-old boy was taken into custody and charged with criminal homicide.
WGAL News 8 reported that Clayton was denied bail and is being held at Perry County Prison, with his hearing scheduled for January 22.
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