Published on: Sept 01, 2025 09:42 am IST
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.
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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.
