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‘Ding, dong, ditch’ turns deadly: 11-year-old Texas boy shot dead while pulling doorbell prank
The child was shot and killed on Racine Street in Houston while playing the doorbell prank ‘ding, dong, ditch’ with a group of friends around 11 pm.
An 11-year-old boy from Texas died Sunday night, August 31, after a game of “ding, dong, ditch” turned deadly. The child was shot and killed on Racine Street in Houston while playing the doorbell prank with a group of friends around 11 pm. He had knocked on a door and was running away, the Houston Police Department said in a statement.
“HPD patrol officers responded to a shooting call at the above address and learned a male was shot and had been transported to an area hospital. Doctors pronounced him deceased today (Aug. 31),” HPD Homicide Division Sergeant M. Cass and Detective J. Brown reported.
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Here’s what happened
“Officers were told the male was ringing doorbells of homes in the area and running away. A witness stated the male was running from a house, after ringing the doorbell, just prior to suffering a gunshot wound,” they added.
The child, who sustained “a couple of gunshot wounds,” was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition, Lt. Amber Khan of the Houston Police Department told KHOU 11. He later succumbed to his injuries.
Police said that while one person was initially detained by police for questioning, they were later released. Houston police are now executing a search warrant as part of the investigation.
The prank involves ringing a doorbell and fleeing the scene. It has become popular on TikTok, and has led to other shocking incidents across the US. A Virginia homeowner allegedly shot a high school athlete dead after the teenager and two friends banged on a door while playing “ding dong ditch” in May. In July last year, a teen was shot and injured while pulling the same prank on a gun-toting Maine homeowner.
Anyone with information about the latest Texas incident is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
