A police car in the US state of Pennsylvania. (symbol image)Image: www.imago-images.de
In the middle of the night, a woman is woken up by a bang. Her husband lies next to her, motionless. Your eleven-year-old son says just one sentence – that changes everything.
Jan 17, 2026, 6:57 p.mJan 17, 2026, 6:57 p.m
Ellen Ivits / t-online
An eleven-year-old boy is said to have shot and killed his adoptive father in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. The police assume it was a targeted shot in the head. The boy was arrested and now has to answer for a homicide.
According to court documents, police were alerted early on the morning of January 13th. On site, the emergency services found a lifeless man in his bed – he had apparently died as a result of a shot in the head. The dead man is 42-year-old Douglas D., US media reports.
“I killed Daddy”
According to the police, the dead man’s wife said she was woken up in the night by a loud noise and a smell that reminded her of fireworks. When she turned on the light, she noticed blood. Her husband didn’t react. Shortly afterwards, her son came into the room and shouted: “Daddy is dead.”
On site, the police officers are said to have heard the boy confessing the crime to his mother. They quote him as saying: “I killed Daddy.”
An affidavit states that the boy admitted to police that he had committed the crime. He said: “I shot someone” – and later confirmed that it was his father.
Birthday ends fatally
As the documents state, the boy said he had spent a “good day” with his parents the evening before. Shortly after midnight, his parents sang him “Happy Birthday” and then they went to sleep. When his father told him that he had to go to bed now, he became angry.
According to his own statements, the boy actually wanted to look for his Nintendo Switch, which had previously been taken away from him. To do this, he opened his father’s gun cabinet – he found the key in a drawer. According to police, the boy then loaded a gun, walked to his father’s bedside and fired one shot. The boy’s bedroom is connected to the parents’ room via a wardrobe.
When police later asked him what he was thinking when he committed the crime, the boy said he was angry and “didn’t think about it.”
According to police, the boy was adopted by the couple in 2018. He is now in custody and bail has not been granted. The next hearing is scheduled for January 22nd. In the US state of Pennsylvania, minors aged ten and over can be tried as adults for serious crimes (e.g. murder), although transfer from juvenile to adult court is possible.
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