Shot dad taught son, 8, to use gun

A MAN who police believe was shot and killed by his eight-year-old son had consulted a Roman Catholic priest about whether the boy should handle guns and had taught him how to use a rifle, the clergyman said.

The father, Vincent Romero, aged 29, was from a family of avid hunters and wanted to make sure the boy wasn’t afraid of guns, said the Very Reverend John Paul Sauter of St Johns Catholic Church. The boy’s stepmother had suggested he have a BB gun.

Romero taught his son how to use a rifle to kill prairie dogs, Rev Sauter said. Police say the boy used a .22-caliber rifle Wednesday to kill his father and another man, Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos.

The priest did not say how he advised the couple but said Saturday that the boy “was just too young”.

“That child, I don’t think he knows what he did, and it was brutal,” Rev Sauter said.

The boy, who faces two counts of premeditated murder, did not act on the spur of the moment, St Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick said. Police are looking into whether he might have been abused.

“He just doesn’t decide one day he’s going to shoot his father and his father’s friend for no reason. Something led up to this,” said Mr Melnick.

On Friday, a judge ordered a psychological evaluation of the boy.