Pennsylvania boy facing criminal homicide charges after 13 January shooting at family’s home

An 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy allegedly shot his father to death after previously having his Nintendo Switch handheld gaming system taken away.

The boy is facing criminal homicide charges after a 13 January shooting at his family’s home in Duncannon Borough.

As put in court documents obtained and reported by WGAL News 8, the case illustrates how easily children can access guns in the US, where firearms are ubiquitous.

The victim was reportedly discovered in the bedroom he shared with his wife, which court documents say is connected to their son’s bedroom by a closet.

Police reported it was the child’s birthday, and he had entered the bedroom shouting: “Daddy’s dead.” Troopers at the scene also reportedly said that they heard the son tell his mother: “I killed Daddy.”

Police said the shooting occurred after the couple had gone to bed shortly past midnight. The child reportedly told authorities that he had had a good day with his parents, but the documents reportedly state that he became “mad” when his father told him it was time to go to bed.

According to the news outlet, the court document says that the boy told police he found a key to the gun safe in his father’s drawer in his parent’s bedroom. He reportedly unlocked it while attempting to locate his Nintendo Switch – which had previously been taken away from him – and found a gun.

  • Veedem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    64·
    25 days ago

    The son then allegedly admitted to “removing the gun from the safe, loading bullets into it and walking over to his father’s side of the bed”, according to the affidavit. “He pulled back the hammer and fired the gun at his father,” the affidavit adds.

    When asked what he believed would happen when he fired the gun, the boy responded that he was “mad” and that he had “not thought about that”, according to investigators.

    Jesus man. This is a horrific situation. That poor woman lost her husband and, effectively, her son in one night.

    • BCsven@lemmy.ca
      6·
      25 days ago

      Maybe something good can come out of it. The kid has serious issues which hopefully he gets intense therapy for, rather than not killing his dad and growing up being some psycho killer that terrorizes the general public.

      • Triasha@lemmy.world
        5·
        25 days ago

        The kid killed one of the only people that might have provided that care, and probably left the other in poverty.

        The odds ain’t good.

      • homura1650@lemmy.world
        53·
        25 days ago

        He’s likely going to have mental health issues now, as a result of the shooting.

        As for pre-existing mental health issues; to me the most likely condition seems to be “was 11”, which most people grow out of. As a thought experiment, how many 11 year olds are there that you would be comfortable having a gun unsupervised.

        • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
          61·
          25 days ago

          The number of people in this comments who think that looking for the key to a gun safe, getting a gun out of it, loading it, and using it to murder someone is normal 11 year old behavior is insane. Kid has some serious issues to be capable of something like this

        • BCsven@lemmy.ca
          3·
          25 days ago

          At 11 my dad had guns in the house, but not in a million years would my anger have made me think yo load his gun shoot him. (Plus ammo was hidden and locks separate from his guns)

          That kid has serious unchecked emotional dysregulation in my opinion.

          I think in rural Canada you can handle guns at 12 legally.