A father was arrested for allegedly gunning down his son on Thanksgiving Day in eastern Nebraska, authorities said Friday.
Will McDonald, 47, allegedly shot his 10-year-old son, Kendrick, at about 11:30 pm Thursday at their home in Omaha, the Omaha Police Department said in a statement. Officers reportedly found Kendrick suffering from a gunshot wound upon arrival at the residence. Omaha Fire Department personnel took Kendrick to the hospital where he passed away, the statement noted.
McDonald faces charges of criminal homicide, use of a weapon (gun), and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, per the statement.
A car alarm allegedly sounded before the shooting, and it could be that McDonald suspected someone was trying to steal his car and then fired his gun, mistaking his son for a would-be car thief, The Lincoln Journal Star reported.
‘Heartbreaking’: Father allegedly gunned down 10-year-old son on Thanksgiving Day in front of family home
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“Obviously, we’re still pretty early. We do know that there was allegedly a car alarm going off, and for whatever reason, the suspect/father went outside to maybe investigate that. We’re not 100% on that, but we are receiving information that a car alarm was going off,” Omaha Police Capt. Jeremy Christensen said, per The Lincoln Journal Star. “As to exactly what transpired and the why of it, we’re still trying to piece that together through our investigation.” (RELATED: ‘Unexplainable And Heinous Crime’: Mom Gets Life In Prison After Pleading Guilty To Fatally Slamming Baby On Concrete)
“It’s obviously very tragic,” Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said, The Lincoln Journal Star reported. “But we have to determine if [Will McDonald] was justified in doing what he did. … At this point in time, it doesn’t appear that he was justified in firing.”
McDonald was previously convicted of felony theft and felony robbery and had done time in prison in the 1990s and from 1998 to 2003, per The Lincoln Journal Star. He reportedly was charged in 2005 with illegally possessing a gun as a convicted felon, making terroristic threats, and committing a felony using a firearm.