An 11-year-old boy was fatally shot in Houston after a prank in which he rang the doorbell of a home and ran away, police said Sunday.
According to a statement from the Houston Police Department, a boy engaged in a late Saturday evening prank involving ringing doorbells and running away before the residents could answer, commonly known as “ding dong ditching.”
The boy, who has not yet been identified, died of his wounds Sunday, police said.
Police representative Shay Awosiyan mentioned that the investigation was ongoing and there had been no arrests related to the boy’s death by Sunday evening.
This type of prank has previously led to fatalities. A man in Southern California was found guilty in 2023 of three first-degree murder charges for deliberately crashing into a car, killing three teens who had knocked on his door as a joke.
Additionally, in May, a man from Virginia faced a second-degree murder charge for shooting and killing an 18-year-old who was filming a TikTok prank by ringing doorbells, as reported by the New York Times.
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