A 9 year old boy lost a video game. So he loaded his dad's rifle and waited by the window.
She was 7. She bragged about beating him at Nintendo. Hours later he shot her in the back from a second floor window. Then he sat down and kept playing
March 6th, 1989. Contown, Pennsylvania. Tucked away in the Pocono Mountains.
Snow day. School's cancelled. The neighborhood kids pile into the Ratty house to play.
Jessica Carr is there. She's 7 years old.
So is Cameron Coker. The boy next door. He's 9.
They're all playing Spy Hunter on Nintendo. Taking turns. Talking trash the way kids do.
Jessica is feeling good. She turns to Cameron and brags right to his face.
"I have this game at home. I can get further than you. I beat the dragon."
Cameron goes quiet.
The game gets cut short anyway. An adult walks in. The kitchen is a mess. Bowls and cups everywhere.
Cameron swears he didn't leave any of it out but nobody's listening to him.
The other kids head outside to ride snowmobiles in the yard. Laughing. Throwing snow.
Cameron doesn't go with them. He stomps home.
He's 9 years old. Cub scout. Bible class. Honor roll.
The kind of kid you'd never look twice at.
But Cameron knows something a 9 year old shouldn't.
He knows exactly where his dad hides the key to the gun cabinet.
Inside the base of a lamp.
He gets the key. Goes upstairs to his parents' bedroom. Unlocks the cabinet.
Ten rifles lined up inside.He picks one. A .35 caliber Marlin. His dad's hunting rifle. The one with the scope.
He finds the ammo in a separate drawer. Loads a single round into the chamber.
Then he opens the second floor window. Pops out the screen.
Lays the barrel across the window ledge.
Down below in the Ratty's yard, a snowmobile glides through the snow.
Jessica is riding on the back. Laughing. Head turned away. Completely unaware.
Cameron looks through the scope. Lines her up.
And pulls the trigger