An 11-year-old boy has died after being shot during a “ding dong ditch” prank in Houston on Saturday night, according to police.
The shooting happened shortly before 11 p.m. in the 9700 block of Racine Street. Police said the boy and a group of friends were running through the neighborhood, ringing doorbells and fleeing before residents answered.
Highlights
- An 11-year-old Houston boy was fatally shot while playing the 'ding dong ditch' prank late Saturday night.
- Police suspect the shooting was not self-defense as it happened away from the home; no arrests have been made yet.
- The prank gained popularity on TikTok but has led to severe legal troubles and deadly incidents nationwide.
A news release quoted a witness who told police the boy had just rung the doorbell of a home and was running away when he was shot.
An 11-year-old boy died after being shot during a ‘ding dong ditch’ prank
Image credits: Melissa Phillip/Getty Images
He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead on Sunday, authorities said.
Houston police detained one person for questioning, but later released them. No arrests have been made yet.
Investigators said they are reviewing surveillance footage from the neighborhood and working with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to determine possible charges.
“It’ll more than likely be a murder charge,” Sgt. Michael Cass, a homicide detective with the Houston Police Department, told local news channel KHOU.
He noted that the shooting did not appear to be in self-defense because it “wasn’t close to the house.”
The identity of the boy has not been released.
Image credits: KHOU 11/YouTube
“Ding dong ditching” is a prank in which children or teens ring a doorbell or knock on a door and then run away. Though often seen as harmless mischief, the prank has been tied to serious and sometimes deadly outcomes in recent years.
Social media platforms such as TikTok have popularized the challenge, with videos showing young people banging on or kicking doors and running while filming the reaction.
Law enforcement officials have responded to these pranks and warned about the personal dangers and criminal charges that can come with them.
In May, an 18-year-old high school senior in Virginia was shot and killed while filming a ding dong ditch video to post online, according to The New York Times. The man accused of killing him was charged with second-degree murder.
In another case, three 16-year-olds in California died in 2020 when a man rammed his car into theirs after they played the prank at his home.
The driver, Anurag Chandra, was convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2023.
More recently, police in a Dallas suburb arrested a man in July after he fired several shots at a car full of teens he believed had knocked on his door. He faces aggravated assault charges.
Authorities nationwide have cautioned that the prank can quickly escalate into violence.
The popular prank is a TikTok challenge
Image credits: KHOU 11/YouTube
In August, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana posted on Facebook: “Think it’s funny to bang on doors and run? Think again. What might seem like a prank can lead to serious legal trouble, property damage, or worse – someone getting hurt.”
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood in Florida issued a similar warning earlier this year when deputies arrested two teens and charged them with burglary after they kicked a local resident’s door in the middle of the night.
“That’s a good way to end up dead, especially in Florida,” he told the WESH television station. “You’re endangering your future with this TikTok challenge.”
Police in Fort Worth, Texas, reported receiving more than 20 complaints of young people committing the ‘Door Kicking Challenge’ in May.
They warned the prank “can be mistaken as an attempted break-in, potentially prompting dangerous or defensive responses from homeowners.”
“What may seem like a prank can result in very real trouble and/or danger,” the police said in a statement.
Houston police have not released information about the shooter in Saturday’s incident.
Click2Houston reported that officers were seen taking a man in handcuffs out of a police unit and walking him back to the home where the shooting happened.
The investigation is ongoing.