Clayton Dietz, Duncannon Borough, Pennsylvania 11-year-old boy shoots and kills his father, Douglas after removing his son’s Nintendo Switch game. Boy who had been adopted had been exhibiting anti-social behavior which went untreated despite repeated pleas.
An 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy is accused of shooting and killing his father after the parent taking away his son’s Nintendo Switch game.
Clayton Dietz, who now faces a criminal homicide charge is alleged to have fired a single fatal gunshot to his father’s head, Tuesday morning just after 3 a.m, at the family’s Duncannon Borough residence.
Douglas Dietz, 42, was found ‘unresponsive’ from a single gunshot wound to the head in his bedroom and declared dead at the scene according to an arrest affidavit, WGAL reported.
Mom smelt what she thought was fireworks and heard what she thought was water dripping
According to the court documents, Douglas’ wife, Jill Dietz told police she was asleep when a loud noise woke her, whereupon she smelled something similar to fireworks. She said she tried to nudge Douglas, only for the man not to move. The mother then heard what she thought was water dripping, but when she turned on the light, she realized it was blood, according to the documents.
Police said Clayton then entered the bedroom and shouted, ‘Daddy’s dead.’ Troopers at the scene also said they heard Clayton tell his mother, ‘I killed Daddy.’
According to court documents, the couple went to bed shortly after midnight after singing happy birthday to their son who had just turned 11. Clayton told investigators that he had a good day with his parents, according to police. ‘When his dad told him he needed to go to bed, he got mad at him,’ the documents stated.
At some point the father had taken the boy’s Nintendo Switch game and put it away leading to the boy later looking for the key to his father’s safe, which he found in a drawer, where upon the 11-year-old according to arresting documents while looking for his game instead coming across this father’s revolver.
Boy claimed looking for keys to safe to get game only to find daddy’s gun
During questioning, the boy admitted ‘removing the gun from the safe, loading bullets into it and walking over to his father’s side of the bed. He pulled back the hammer and fired the gun at his father.’
When police asked Clayton what he thought would happen when he fired the gun, he said that ‘he was mad, and he had not thought about that,’ investigators stated.
It remained unclear if the boy was aware that his father kept the gun hidden in the safe and had intentionally sought to locate it and use it to kill his father.
The father’s shooting death follows the boy’s parents adopting the 11-year-old in 2018.
Failed attempts to get help for son’s violent anti-social behavior
According to online reports, the boy’s parents had sought to get help for their son who had been exhibiting anti-social behavior only to be met with resistance.
Reported AbbyBlabby, ‘In October, they sent a letter to the school demanding that Clayton be referred to the Yellow Breeches Educational Center for specialized behavioral and educational support. They outlined some of his recent behaviors, such as sexual harassment, theft, and physical aggression, but they were repeatedly told Clayton “didn’t meet criteria” for referral.
Jill and Douglas expressed concern over the repeated denials, stating that ignoring their requests isn’t just negligent- it’s dangerous.’
A family friend, Stuckey, speaking to WGAL told the outlet that the 11-year-old had autism, which escalated in 2025.
According to the family friend, written requests to Susquenita School District to have the boy transferred to a behavioral education center were rebuffed.
Clayton remains held at the Perry County Prison with no bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Jan. 22.
