According to foreign media reports, an 11-year-old boy in the United States, Clayton Dietz, shot and killed his adoptive father simply because his adoptive father confiscated his Nintendo game console. The state of Pennsylvania in the United States charged him with criminal homicide as an adult and appeared in court in handcuffs on February 11.
The incident happened in the early morning of January 13, which happened to be Clayton's 11th birthday. That night, his Nintendo Switch was confiscated by his adoptive father and he was asked to go to bed immediately, which made him very angry.
Later, Clayton found a safe key in his father's drawer and tried to open the safe to retrieve the game console, but unexpectedly found a pistol inside. He then used the gun to fire on his father.
The police later asked him what he thought would happen when he pulled the trigger. The 11-year-old boy only said that he was "very angry" at the time and said that he "didn't think about the consequences."
Douglas's wife, Gillian Dietz, recalled to police that the couple sang "Happy Birthday" to their son before going to bed that night. Shortly after, she was awakened by a loud noise. She saw Clayton hiding in a closet and told her, "He's dead," before running downstairs and yelling, "My dad's dead."
Clayton was previously denied bail on January 13 and was escorted in and out of court in handcuffs by police. After the hearing, the juvenile defendant's attorney, Dave Wilson, told local media that he would not comment on the case, but stressed that his goal was to have his client transferred to juvenile court. Clayton is currently being tried as an adult.
Douglas and Gillian adopted Clayton in 2018.