An 11-year-old Indiana boy stole his state trooper father’s gun and shot him while he was sleeping because he was angry his parents had taken his video games away.
The boy told the police that he planned the shooting while at school and carried it out that night, Feb. 22.
He devised the plan because “He was done with all of that” and “wanted it to end,” he told investigators, according to court documents obtained by WSBT.
Indiana State Trooper Matthew Makowski told police his son shot him. Makowski said his boy “must have retrieved his firearm from his parked vehicle outside of the home.”
New details in shooting of ISP trooper Matthew Makowski. Court documents say his 11 year old son shot him in their Granger home after his parents took away his video games. More – coming up on #WSBT22 First in the Morning. https://t.co/6ZXns4EEkz
— Leanne Tokars (@LTokarsWSBT) March 7, 2019
The boy said he went to the car three different times before finally obtaining the gun out of the vehicle, which Makowski said was usually locked with the gun inside.
After his parents went to bed, the boy crept into the room. He decided to wait about 10 minutes until his dad rolled over and was facing the other way so that “he wouldn’t see me shooting him,” the boy told police. Then, he fired the shot.
Makowski began screaming and his wife left the room to look for the boy, picking up the gun, which he’d dropped on the floor. She spotted her son walking back toward the room holding a BB gun and his father’s taser, so she locked the door and called 911.
Officers rushed to the home and detained the boy. Paramedics rushed Makowski to the hospital.
Here’s a closer look at the home where an @IndStatePolice Trooper was shot last night. It’s his home and he was off-duty at the time.
Police tell me he didn’t die. He was taken to hospital for surgery. I don’t know his condition now.
I’m working to gather more updates @WSBT pic.twitter.com/HWSbmiVxcw
— Caroline Torie (@CarolineTorieTV) February 22, 2019
The boy later told police he wanted a Play Station, an Xbox, and a computer, and that he was “going to get these simple things, or there would be a Part 2,” the court documents said, reported the South Bend Tribune.
His parents told the police they’d taken away his video games as punishment for behavioral problems at school.
Makowski’s son wanted to shoot his father in the head but couldn’t do so because of the way Makowski was lying in bed, the boy said.
The boy also said he tested the taser out on the family’s dog prior to the shooting.
The alleged shooter appeared in court on March 5, with another appearance scheduled on April 10.
An Indiana state trooper was allegedly shot by his 11-year-old son inside their Granger home last week, and we’re learning more about another incident involving the boy. https://t.co/MMn7HXGiKj
— WNDU (@WNDU) February 26, 2019
St. Joseph County prosecutors have filed a petition against the boy alleging delinquency—the juvenile equivalent of a criminal charge—for attempted murder, the Tribune reported. In 2018, the boy was involved in a “possible battery” against an 8-year-old neighbor, who was taken to the emergency room at a nearby hospital, but it’s not clear what happened next.
Police officers were also called to the house on Feb. 13 to perform a welfare check, Troy Warner, legal adviser to the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department told the Tribune.
Two officers were dispatched to the house but they did not file a report so it’s not clear what they found.
Makowski was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit on Feb. 25 after undergoing surgery. The shot hit him in his lower body.
Neighbors told WNDU that the boy had a history of being aggressive, violent, and manipulative.