RIVERVIEW, Fla. (WFLA) — Imagine seeing someone in a ski mask holding what appears to be a gun from your Ring doorbell camera late at night.
That was the view from one Riverview resident’s surveillance footage Friday night, as a prank has a community still shaken up days later.
It was just after 10:40 p.m. Friday when Amy said she was pulling into her driveway and saw several people outside.
“I got out [and] asked them if there was anything I could assist them with,” she explained. “They told me to mind my own business.”
Amy said the situation quickly escalated.
“When I reminded them that, ‘Hey, I know you don’t live here,’ they became more insulting towards me, calling me names,” she shared. “So I warned them, ‘Hey, I’m going to call the cops if you don’t leave’.”
“They said, ‘Go ahead and do it,’ so I did,” Amy continued.
Hillsborough County deputies said five unidentified teens were walking around the neighborhood, when two of them walked up to a home.
Ring camera footage showed one of those teens, wearing a ski mask, kick the front door and fire an airsoft gun before taking off.
Deputies told 8 On Your Side the “door kick challenge” is a prank circulating on social media.
It’s a dangerous trend that Amy said could end in tragedy.
“This is Florida,” she explained. “We’re allowed to carry, we’re allowed to protect ourselves, our homes, our property, our children, our pets.”
News Channel 8 reporter Nicole Rogers asked, “So it could be really dangerous?”
“It could,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s going to end up really bad for someone one day.”
Her message to the teens?
“It’s not something to laugh about,” she emphasized. “It might seem amusing and lighthearted when you rewatch your TikTok videos or share them with friends on Worldstar, but it’s serious.”
“It can be life or death,” Amy continued. “It really can be, and your mom’s not going to want to cry at your eulogy about it, so think next time.”
