8-year-old charged with murdering his dad and another man

An eight-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of his father and another man in the US state of Arizona.

Police in St Johns, a small community north-east of Phoenix, said the child had confessed to shooting the two men with a .22-calibre rifle on Wednesday.

"Who would think an eight-year-old kid could kill two adults?" said St Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick on Friday.

A judge has ordered a psychological evaluation of the boy, who is being held at a juvenile detention centre. He did not have a record of bad behaviour at school, and there had been no indication of any problems at home, prosecutors said.

With news video.