In a tragic incident that has shocked the community in Pennsylvania, an 11-year-old boy, Clayton Dietz, has been charged with criminal homicide following the fatal shooting of his adoptive father, Douglas Dietz. This heart-wrenching event unfolded after the father confiscated the boy’s Nintendo Switch on what should have been a special occasion—Clayton’s birthday.

The unfortunate incident took place in the family’s home located on South Market Street in Duncannon, a suburb of Harrisburg. It was during the late hours of Monday night or the early morning hours of Tuesday that the situation escalated after a day that began with birthday celebrations. According to court records, the family had stayed up until midnight to sing “Happy Birthday” to Clayton. However, the festivities were cut short when Douglas Dietz instructed his son to go to bed, removing the Nintendo Switch from his possession.

The removal of the gaming console appeared to have deeply upset the young boy. Once his parents had retired for the night and were seemingly asleep, Clayton made a decision that would forever alter their lives. Driven by the hope of retrieving his console, Clayton searched for and found the key to his father’s safe inside a dresser drawer. Instead of finding his Nintendo Switch, he discovered a revolver inside the safe.

Court documents reviewed by Law&Crime and PennLive.com detail the unfolding of these events, leading up to the tragic outcome that has left a family shattered and a community in disbelief. Clayton Dietz’s preliminary arraignment was held on Tuesday evening, as the legal process begins to address this devastating incident.

This apparently upset the child.

After his parents went to bed and appeared to fall asleep, Clayton Dietz went into their bedroom and, inside a dresser drawer, grabbed the key to his father’s safe, the court documents said, believing his video game console might be in there. When he extracted the key, inserted it into the safe, and opened it up, he found a revolver.

According to authorities, he loaded bullets into the gun, pulled back the hammer, walked over to his sleeping father, and fired.

The child’s mother awoke to a bang and a smell similar to fireworks, she told police. She tried to nudge her husband awake, but to no avail, the local outlet reported. She then thought she heard water dripping — so she rose to her feet to turn on the light and see what it was.

That is when she reportedly noticed her husband was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head.

The child apparently realized what he had done around the same time, authorities said. “My dad’s dead,” he is said to have screamed as he ran downstairs. “I killed my dad. I hate myself.”

The boy reportedly had a bloody lip and a contusion above his left eye, though how he got those injuries was not explained.

Police arrived at the home at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday to find Douglas Dietz’s body. The wife told officers what she believed happened and what she witnessed. According to PennLive.com, she said that she and her husband adopted their son in 2018 when he was 3 years old and moved to the home on South Market Street in 2023.

Officers also spoke with the child. He allegedly admitted that “he had someone in mind who he was going to shoot” before he shot his father, local CBS affiliate WHP reported. When investigators asked him what he thought would happen when he pulled the trigger, he reportedly replied that he was angry and had not considered that.

Under Pennsylvania law, anyone, regardless of age, who is charged with murder is automatically processed in the adult criminal court system. Court records show Clayton Dietz has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 22.