Man shoots boy for throwing rocks

A man irritated by children throwing rocks at his house shot dead a nine-year-old boy.

Officers in Arkansas found Demotric Moore with a gunshot wound to the neck on Monday afternoon. The boy was pronounced dead at hospital.

Officers saw Jonathan Watts, 50, inside his home, ordered him to the ground and arrested him.

“I’ve had it with these kids and the rock throwing,” Watts said as he was being handcuffed, El Dorado police Capt David Smith said.

Watts told officers that he had thrown the gun away. Initial calls reported a man with a BB gun, Smith said.

The weapon was a shotgun, according to a police report.

Smith said police had been called to Watts’ home on a number of occasions.

“Apparently, rock throwing had been an ongoing problem,” Smith said. “Even on one occasion Watts had thrown a brick at a small child ... in retaliation for a child throwing rocks.”

Watts is being held pending a formal charge by prosecutors, and it is unknown if he has a lawyer.

Watts will make his first appearance in court today.