An 11-year-old boy was fatally shot in Houston after a prank during which he rang the doorbell of a house and ran away, police stated Sunday.
The boy had been ringing doorbells as a prank late Saturday night, the Houston Police Division stated in a press release. Generally known as “ding dong ditching,” the prank includes fleeing earlier than somebody inside the house opens the door.
The boy, who has not but been recognized, died of his wounds Sunday, police stated.
Police spokesperson Shay Awosiyan stated that officers had been nonetheless investigating and had not arrested anyone in reference to the boy’s dying as of Sunday night.
Different “ding dong ditch” pranks have turned lethal prior to now. In 2023, a Southern California man was convicted on three counts of first-degree homicide for killing three teenage boys by deliberately ramming their automotive after they rang his doorbell as a prank.
And in Might, a Virginia man was charged with second-degree homicide for fatally taking pictures an 18-year-old who had rung his doorbell whereas a filming a TikTok video of the prank, the New York Occasions reported.
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Brook is a corps member for The Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points.
