Ogden man arrested in slaying of friend

One man is dead and his friend is in jail following a shooting in Ogden on Tuesday, apparently after a night of heavy drinking.

Police were called just after 10 p.m. by a man who said he had shot someone inside his home, said Ogden Police Lt. Scott Sangberg. When officers arrived at the house in the 400 block of 21st Street, they found 53-year-old Brad R. Ricks waiting in the driveway, where he was taken into custody without incident.

Inside the house, investigators found "a number of weapons," alcohol and the body of a 56-year-old man on the kitchen floor with a single gunshot wound to his head from a .45-caliber pistol, Sangberg said.

"Mr. Ricks said he and the victim had been drinking pretty heavily. The victim got looking at Mr. Ricks' weapons. And then somewhere in there, he asked Mr. Ricks to shoot him, which he did," Sangberg said. "It appeared to be an alcohol-clouded sense of judgment. Mr. Ricks has been booked into the Weber County Jail for criminal homicide."

The name of the victim was not released Wednesday morning, pending notification of family. There were no other people in the house at the time of the shooting.

Ricks had a few minor citations on his prior criminal record, but nothing of significance, Sangberg said.

— Pat Reavy