A child kills his adoptive father while he was lying in his bed.The background of the crime goes back to a dispute between the child and his father over a gaming device.

In a shocking incident that rocked public opinion in the United States, an 11-year-old child appeared in court in the state of Pennsylvania in handcuffs, after being charged with killing his adoptive father, in a case that sparked widespread anger and sadness within the local community.

According to authorities, the child shot his father, Douglas Dietz, 42, while he was lying in his bed inside the family home in the city of Duncannon, on the child’s own birthday, January 13.

Confiscation of the gaming device

Initial investigations showed that the motive behind the crime stemmed from a dispute between the child and his father over a gaming device that the father had confiscated and placed inside a safe that also contained a firearm.

Investigators told the New York Post that the child found the safe’s keys while searching for the gaming device, took out the gun, loaded it, and then shot his father while he was asleep.

WHP-TV also aired a video showing the child arriving at the courtroom surrounded by supervision officers, wearing glasses and appearing extremely tense as he entered.

According to court documents, the child shouted after the incident, “I killed my dad,” before loudly informing his mother about what had happened.He later admitted that he went straight to his father’s bed after taking the gun out of the safe and pulled the trigger without thinking about the consequences, driven by anger.

For her part, the victim’s wife told police that she woke up to a loud sound similar to fireworks and noticed a strange smell in the room. When she tried to wake her husband, he did not respond, and she later discovered blood seeping through the sheets.

The child currently faces a charge of premeditated murder and is being tried under the laws applied to adults, while authorities confirmed that investigations are continuing to determine all the circumstances of the case and the course of the trial.