Posted on 09/01/2025 8:21:08 AM PDT by Decombobulator
An 11-year-old boy was pronounced dead at a hospital Sunday after he was shot while running from a home he had rung the doorbell on, Houston city officials said.
The boy had been ringing doorbells Saturday night in the area and running as part of a game known as “doorbell ditch,” the city said in a statement.
“A witness stated the male was running from a house, after ringing the doorbell, just prior to suffering a gunshot wound,” it said.
Officers responding to the shooting on the 9700 block of Racine Street released a person who had been detained for questioning, the city said.
The shooting was reported about an hour before midnight, and the boy was rushed to a hospital, where medical staff members declared him dead Sunday, the city said.
NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston indicated that more than one child was playing the game and that the shooting victim was initially hospitalized in critical condition.
"We shouldn't have guns around kids, period. Because a bullet doesn't have a name," neighbor Theresa Jones told the station.
In spring, an 18-year-old man in Virginia was fatally shot as he and other teens participated in ding-dong ditch pranks being recorded for TikTok videos, the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said in May. The homeowner, who was arrested, said he believed a break-in was underway at his residence.
In California, a 45-year-old man who ran down a group of ding-dong ditch pranksters, killing three teenagers, was sentenced in 2023 to life in prison.
The investigation into the Houston shooting continues, the city said.
My daughters used to play that in our neighborhood
Tragic
But I don’t know who is ringing my door bell or for what purpose
I will protect myself
I’m supposed to believe kid rings doorbell and runs away but is fatally shot within the split second he rang the bell and before he turned to run? ...with no threat to the home owner?
That’s the narrative? F that.
FAFO
He won’t do that again.
Shooting a kid for ringing a doorbell, nope, not going to condone that. But why would parents allow their 11-year-old out on the streets ‘an hour before midnight’?
Methinks there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
Agreed....I can’t see any way this rises to the level of using deadly force.
Damn! Do you have a "Deadly Doorbell"?
Shooting someone in the back as they run from you is anything but protecting yourself. I hope you aren't armed.
I don’t trust the Fake News Media’s first version of any story.
Likely not the first time this door has been targeted, but the last
Prayers for the child.
What is a 11 year old child doing out at 11:00 PM?
Yeah, like this isn’t the first time they visited this particular house.....and possibly more than once the same night......that could explain the homeowner having the gun handy.
Who would ANSWER a doorbell at 11om? In our house we would be using all means to see who is there BEFORE opening the door.
I suspect it was trying to bash in the door rather than a doorbell. That’s the Tik-Tok prank.
Yep I did some stupid stuff with my friends when I was that age. I can think of a few occasions we went where we had no business being. Guess I’m lucky i never came across a gun owner with an itchy trigger finger.
Here's the "door kick challenge":
Teenagers Doing The 'Door Kick Challenge' FIND OUT (YouTube)
Shooting kids in the back as they are running away is a quick ticket to a guilty verdict.
I suspect as well.
See my post above this one.
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