An American man who tweeted about killing his roommates is now in police custody after allegedly confessing to shooting one of them dead. Zachary Penton, 21, took to Twitter hours before the murder to complain about those with whom he shared a home, having previously tweeted about how easy it was to acquire a gun in the US.
The day after his tweet was sent, Arizona police officers answered a call to the residence after Daniel Garofalo was found dead. According to reports, an argument between the pair escalated, leading to Penton using his registered gun to shoot and kill his 41-year-old housemate. Penton tweeted that a drunken argument had started after one of his roommates was stung by a bee.
@Zac_Penton they literally just got into a drunk fight after one of them was stung by a bee, like wtf
— Zac☠(@Zac_Penton) August 20, 2016
Penton’s tweet has since gone viral, remaining on his open Twitter account, and share more than 36,000 times at the time of publishing. Curious Twitter users have since read back through his history, uncovering a number of discomforting messages and a longing to obtain a firearm.
In 2013, Penton tweeted: “I wanna go shooting maaaan ... I need to go buy a gun,” following it up with a later tweet saying: “Someone sell me a gun.”
A year later, he tweeted “Time to buy a gun,” followed by another message in June reading: “Holy shit buying a gun is so easy.”
Other tweets revealed he carried a hunting knife in his car.
@warmcookielover I keep a Kabar close for situations like this. pic.twitter.com/w7PdktiueB
— Zac☠(@Zac_Penton) June 1, 2015
A spokesperson for the legal team representing Penton in the ongoing investigation said that his tweets were being read out of context.