In what could only be considered a tragedy, an 11-year-old boy shot his father in the head over being angry about going to bed. On January 13th, 2026, in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, Clayton Dietz celebrated his birthday with his adopted parents, who adopted him in 2018. Past midnight, when it was time for bed, Clayton became angry and began searching for his Nintendo Switch. He found the gun safe in his parents’ bedroom, located the key, and opened it, thinking the Switch could be inside. Instead, he found a gun. He loaded it with bullets and went to his father’s side of the bed, where he was sleeping, and shot his father once in the head. Clayton exited the bedroom, where his mother woke from the gunshot, to find her husband dead from the gunshot. Clayton then came into the room and shouted, “Daddy’s dead”. “I killed Daddy”.
Motive?
Clayton said he was angry about having to go to bed. News reports do not specifically say he was upset for not having his Nintendo Switch, only that he was looking for it when he found the gun safe. Many on social media are spinning this as he killed his father for not having his Switch, which is unproven. Police asked Clayton what he thought would happen after he fired the gun, which he said, “he was mad, and had not thought about that”. Clayton was charged with criminal homicide and will be charged as an adult. Some on social media have said Clayton had Autism, but this has also not been disclosed by news reports. Authorities also noted Clayton had a “large contusion” above his left eye and a small laceration on his lower lip, with no explanations as to how they got there, or if they are relevant to this case.
Takeaway
One can speculate on the motives, causes, and events that led to this tragedy. Was Clayton being abused? Was there an undiagnosed (or diagnosed) mental illness? Clayton’s mother said he told her, “I killed my dad. I hate myself.” Something was severely wrong with Clayton, and now, his adopted father is dead because of it. Nothing can justify what he has done; however, knowing what went wrong could help prevent this from happening again to other families. As of now, we cannot blame the Nintendo Switch. We need to wait and see what else is learned to get an overall picture.
Sources
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