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Father, son fatally shoot each other in fight over dog

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ala. — A father and son fatally shot each other Saturday after getting into a fight when the man’s son told the father he killed his dog, investigators said.

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The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Nicholas Coker began shooting at four of the family’s dogs around 6 p.m. when they started to play aggressively with his girlfriend’s child, WALA reported. Coker killed two of the dogs —one was his and the other was his father’s.

“His brother said, ‘Dad is going to be upset that you killed his dog,’ and Nicholas allegedly pointed the shotgun at his brother and using choice language, more or less told him to get off his property or he would kill him,” Blake Richardson, chief investigator, told WALA.

Kelvin James Coker, 60, arrived home moments later.

Nicholas Coker, 32, pointed the shotgun at his father. Kelvin Coker, who was seated in his vehicle, grabbed his handgun and fired a shot, striking his son in the torso, investigators said. Nicholas fired back, hitting his father in the neck, killing him. Nicholas died shortly later.

“It’s unfortunate that they would not value human life... any more than that,” Richardson said.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said the family has a troubled past. They have responded to numerous incidents over the years at the Coker property, including one last week.

In 2012, Kelvin Coker was charged with first-degree assault after shooting his other son three times in the arm, WALA reported.