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Three brothers from Michigan, including a 15-year-old, have been implicated in the shooting death of their father outside an apartment complex in Bay City last week.
The Bay City Department of Public Safety reported that 39-year-old Shane Gontko succumbed to a head wound on Saturday morning, following a shooting incident that occurred on Wednesday night, as detailed by WJRT.
After investigating, police handed the case over to the Bay County Prosecutor’s Office, which led to the arraignment of Kyle A. Gontko, 19, and Nathen M. Gontko, 21, in court on Monday, as reported by MLive.
Kyle Gontko faces charges including second-degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, filing a false report of a felony, and possession of a firearm during a felony. Nathen Gontko is charged with firing a weapon into a building, filing a false report of a felony, possession of a firearm during a felony, and carrying a firearm while intoxicated.
Their youngest brother, aged 15, is charged with two counts of accessory after the fact to a felony and possession of a firearm during a felony, according to Bay County Prosecutor Michael P. Kanuszewski. His identity remains undisclosed, and he is currently detained at the Bay County Juvenile Home.
Police were called to the brothers’ apartment building just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday after receiving multiple reports of gunfire. At least one call came from one of Shane Gontko’s sons. Officers found the older Gontko, who has three other children in addition to the murder suspects, in the yard with a gunshot to his head. He was taken to a local hospital and then tranferred to a hospital in Flint, where he died.
Kanuszewski declined to speculate on a motive, but he did say the suspects initially claimed their father had been the victim of a random drive-by shooting.
Assistant Prosecutor Christopher S. Johnson said he expects the charges against the brothers will be upgraded later this week.
The judge on Monday set Kyle Gontko’s bond at $500,000 and his brother’s at $250,000. They are due in court again on January 28.
