A wife sleeping next to her husband said she was awakened by a loud noise and heard some liquid dripping before turning on the light and finding out it was blood, according to Pennsylvania police.
Court documents say 42-year-old Douglas Dietz was shot and killed by their adopted son, an 11-year-old boy, over a Nintendo Switch gaming console.
He allegedly described opening the safe, removing the gun, and walking to his father’s side of the bed.
Even more shocking, the incident occurred after the family celebrated the boy’s birthday.
Police said they responded to the home on South Market Street in the borough of Duncannon early on Tuesday morning at about 3:20 a.m. They found Dietz dead from a shot in the head in his bedroom.
Police noted that the parents’ bedroom was connected through a closet to their son’s bedroom.
Dietz’s wife told them she had smelled a strong scent like fireworks when she awoke to discover her husband shot after turning on the lights.
Their son, Clayton Dietz, allegedly entered the room and said, “Daddy’s dead.”
Police also reported that they heard the boy say, “I killed Daddy,” to their mother.
When police questioned him, he said that the family had a good time but that he grew angry at his father when he was told to go to bed.
“He admitted that he had someone in mind whom he was going to shoot, whom he identified as his father,” police wrote in their report.
The boy said that he found the key to their gun safe when he was looking for his Nintendo Switch that had been previously taken away. He allegedly described opening the safe, removing the gun, and walking to his father’s side of the bed.
“He pulled back the hammer and fired the gun at his father,” police said.
The boy faces homicide charges.
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A neighbor named Jesse Weldon told WGAL-TV that he was shocked by the incident.
“They’re very kind. I mean, I didn’t talk to them much. They, you know, kept to themselves over there and just seemed pretty nice. I didn’t expect this,” Weldon said.
The boy was booked into the Perry County Prison, where he is being held without bail.
The couple adopted the boy in 2018, when he would have been about 3 years old.
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