HOUSTON \u2014 An 11-year-old has died after he was shot while playing a doorbell-ditch prank in Houston, police said, the latest tragic example of a TikTok trend that authorities have been warning parents about in a case that could yield a murder charge.<\/p>\n
The boy and his friends were playing a game of “ding dong ditch” at a house down the street from their home just before 11 p.m. Saturday when a person inside the house came out and shot the boy, Houston police said.<\/p>\n
A witness said the boy was running from the house on Racine Street after ringing the doorbell when he was shot, police said<\/a>.<\/p>\n The boy was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead on Sunday, according to police.<\/p>\n Authorities used a bullhorn outside the home Saturday night to urge the person inside to come out with their hands up, CNN affiliate KTRK reported. Police detained one person for questioning.<\/p>\n Officers brought a person back to the home in handcuffs shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday, according to KTRK. Authorities said the person was detained again Sunday night but was not formally charged, KTRK reported.<\/p>\n Houston Police are still actively investigating, the department told CNN Monday.<\/p>\n Investigators are reviewing surveillance video and working with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office on possible charges, KHOU reported.<\/p>\n “It’ll more than likely be a murder charge,” Sgt. Michael Cass, a homicide detective with the Houston Police Department, told KHOU, noting the boy’s death does not appear to involve self-defense because the shooting “wasn’t close to the house.”<\/p>\n “Ding dong ditching” is an age-old prank that’s risen in popularity in recent years as a social media challenge. TikTok videos often feature variations where pranksters pound on or kick people’s front doors.<\/p>\n In a Dallas suburb at the end of July, a man fired shots into a fleeing car after someone banged on his door, according to police<\/a>. The man was arrested on charges of aggravated assault.<\/p>\n In May, an 18-year-old high school senior in Virginia was shot and killed while filming a “ding dong ditch” to post on TikTok, The New York Times reported<\/a>. The man accused of shooting the teen was charged with second-degree murder.<\/p>\n In 2020, three 16-year-olds were killed when a man rammed his car into their vehicle in retaliation for pulling a “ding dong ditch” prank<\/a> on him. The man was convicted of three counts of murder<\/a> and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2023.<\/p>\n Authorities across the country have raised concerns about the door-knock challenge, warning of both the potential danger and legal consequences for those involved.<\/p>\n “Think it’s funny to bang on doors and run? Think again,” the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana wrote in a Facebook post in August<\/a>. “What might seem like a prank can lead to serious legal trouble, property damage, or worse \u2013 someone getting hurt.”<\/p>\n