An 11-year-old boy was fatally shot in Houston after a prank wherein he rang the doorbell of a house and ran away, police mentioned Sunday.
The boy had been ringing doorbells as a prank late Saturday night, the Houston Police Division mentioned in a press release. Generally known as “ding dong ditching,” the prank entails fleeing earlier than somebody inside the house opens the door.
The boy, who has not but been recognized, died of his wounds Sunday, police mentioned.
Police spokesperson Shay Awosiyan mentioned that officers have 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 up 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 automobile after they rang his doorbell as a prank.
And in Could, 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.
