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A 20-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed his friend and roommate at their Layton home following a fight on Monday morning, told police he "snapped" after looking in the mirror and seeing that he had a black eye and a bloody nose.
Christopher S. Fritz Jr. was booked into the Davis County jail late Monday night on suspicion of first-degree felony murder for the death of 24-year-old Taylor James Vancamp. Bail was set at $100,000, cash-only.
Fritz told police that he and Vancamp began to argue while drinking alcohol at their home at 1407 E. 275 North, according to a probable cause statement filed with the jail.
Following a physical fight, Vancamp and Fritz went to their respective bedrooms, which are across a hall from each other, the probable cause statement says.
Fritz, after seeing the his black eye and bloody nose, got a handgun from a drawer, racked a round into the chamber and opened his door to see Taylor standing in his own room without any weapons in his hands, the probable cause statement says.
"Christopher said he then began to fire his gun multiple times at Taylor ... until the gun would not shoot anymore," the statement says.
Frtiz's father came up from downstairs and took the gun, and Fritz told his father, "I killed Taylor," the statement says.
The father — who had called 911 at about 7:30 a.m. to report "a rapid succession of gunshots" — then told Fritz to sit on the couch until police arrived, the statement says.
Layton police Lt. Travis Lyman said Tuesday that police found Vancamp, who had been shot "numerous times," dead inside his bedroom.
He said an autopsy was being performed Tuesday morning at the state medical examiner's office.
Lyman said he did not know what precipitated the initial fight, which ranged from the hallway, to a female resident's bedroom, and back out into the hallway.
Police had said Monday that it was possible the shooter had fired at Taylor in self-defense. But Lyman said Tuesday they were confident the murder charge was appropriate.
Formal charges will be screened with the Davis County Attorney's Office, he said.
Following the shooting, the female resident of the home and Fritz's father took the handgun allegedly used in the slaying, as well as another firearm, and placed them in the kitchen, Lyman said.
Lyman said he did not know how long any of the home's occupants had been living at the home.