Update: Dad dies in hospital after fatal shooting of son
Ryan Dutter, 36, who police say shot and
killed his son Kyle in a vehicle on the west side Tuesday, died at
University Hospital from what police said were self-inflicted
gunshot wounds.
Kyle Dutter, 12, was killed by his father as
the two sat in the family's sport utility vehicle near a west side
park.
Ryan Dutter had been on life-support systems
at the hospital and was pronounced dead this afternoon, said Dane
County Coroner John Stanley.
"This is a true family tragedy," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain, a day after Kyle Dutter was shot to death shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday by his father, Ryan Dutter, as the two sat inside a black Jeep parked on Tree Lane in front of Haen Family Park.
Police were not able to question Ryan Dutter about the motive behind the shooting of his son Kyle and the subsequent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but news reports indicated he was in financial trouble.
Evidence has been recovered from the SUV and from Dutter's home in Middleton -- evidence DeSpain said could potentially explain what took place. A firearm believed to be a handgun was also recovered from the Jeep.
"We believe it is the weapon used to shoot Kyle and the dad," DeSpain said.
Kyle Dutter was a sixth-grade student at Glacier Creek Middle School in Cross Plains.
Don Johnson, Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District superintendent, said grief counseling was being done Wednesday at the school, with a team of counselors concentrating on the students who were in the same classes with Kyle.
"It's sad, just sad," Johnson said.
This was Kyle's first year attending Glacier Creek Middle School.
No memorial services are planned yet at the school, but Johnson said any decision along those lines would come from the family.
"When we have a student death, we work with the family to accede to their wishes," he said.
This was the second death of a Glacier Creek student this semester. An eighth-grade student, Kevin Payton, died in October of natural causes.
Residents living in the Haen Family Park neighborhood, just off Mineral Point Road and High Point Road, were alarmed when they heard of the double shooting, some saying they wouldn't be taking their kids to the popular park anymore.
DeSpain said the shooting had absolutely nothing to do with the neighborhood or the park.
"This crime could have taken place anywhere," DeSpain said. "It is just where the father parked the car.
"It (the shooting) certainly has no reflection on the neighborhood. I'd hate to have people not take their kids to play in this park because of this."
He added his own kids go and play at Haen Family Park.
"My parents live close to the park and take my kids to that park," he said. "I have no reservations about it."
The shooting was first reported to Madison police by an anonymous caller who called 911 from a cell phone and told where the car could be found.
Did the call come from Ryan Dutter himself?
"A call coming from the dad is a possibility but we can't definitely say it," DeSpain said.
An autopsy on Kyle Dutter was being performed Wednesday morning.
Mike DeVries/The Capital Times
Police say 12-year-old Kyle Dutter was shot to death Tuesday by his father, Ryan Dutter, as the two sat inside a vehicle on Tree Lane near Haen Family Park.
