An 11-year-old boy has died after being shot while playing a doorbell ditch prank in Houston on Saturday night, police said.
The boy and several other kids were ringing doorbells and running from multiple homes in an east Houston neighborhood, according to CNN affiliate KHOU. As the boy ran from a house on Racine Street just before 11 p.m., someone chased after him and shot him in the back, according to KHOU.
The boy was transported to hospital and was pronounced dead on Sunday, according to police.
One person was detained at the scene for questioning and has since been released, police said. Investigators are reviewing surveillance video and working with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office on possible charges, KHOU reported.
“It’ll more than likely be a murder charge,” Sgt. Michael Cass, a homicide detective with the Houston Police Department, told KHOU, noting the boy’s death does not appear to involve self-defense because the shooting “wasn’t close to the house.”
“Ding dong ditching” is an age-old prank that’s risen in popularity in recent years as a social media challenge. TikTok videos often feature variations where pranksters pound on or kick people’s front doors.
In a Dallas suburb at the end of July, a man fired multiple shots into a fleeing car after someone banged on his door, according to police. The man was arrested on charges of aggravated assault.
Some “ding dong ditch” pranks have turned deadly in the past.
In May, an 18-year-old high school senior in Virginia was shot and killed while filming a “ding dong ditch” to post on TikTok, The New York Times reported. The man accused of shooting the teen was charged with second-degree murder.
In 2020, three 16-year-olds were killed when a man rammed his car into their vehicle in retaliation for pulling a “ding dong ditch” prank on him. The man was convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2023.
Authorities across the country have raised concerns about the door knock challenge, warning of both the potential danger and legal consequences for those involved.
“Think it’s funny to bang on doors and run? Think again,” the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana wrote in a Facebook post in August. “What might seem like a prank can lead to serious legal trouble, property damage, or worse – someone getting hurt.”
“That’s a good way to end up dead, especially in Florida,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Florida’s Volusia County Sheriff’s Office told CNN affiliate WESH in July, after arresting a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy for kicking a local resident’s door one night.
The teens were captured on a doorbell camera creeping up to a family’s home and kicking the door before running away, WESH reported. Authorities took two hours to find them.
“You’re endangering your future with this TikTok challenge,” Chitwood said. “You’re going to be charged with a felony.” The two teens were charged with burglary, according to WESH.
