UPDATE
Sep 2, 2025 12:20 PM CDT
Houston police have arrested a 42-year-old man after a boy was fatally shot while playing "ding dong ditch," reports NBC News. Leon Gonzalo Jr., 42, has been charged with murder in the Saturday night shooting. Police say 11-year-old Julian Guzman rang a doorbell about midnight as a prank and was shot while running away. It was not immediately clear whether Gonzalo was the homeowner or just lived at the residence, per ABC News.
Sep 1, 2025 5:43 AM CDT
A late-night childhood prank in Houston turned tragic when an 11-year-old boy was fatally shot after ringing a doorbell and running away, authorities report. Responders were called to the scene on Racine Street just before midnight Saturday, where they found the child wounded; he died Sunday at a hospital, per NBC News. The boy was chased and shot multiple times, including in the back, per KHOU and KPRC. He was reportedly not alone—other children were also playing a game known as "doorbell ditch" or "ding dong ditch" in the neighborhood at the time.
Initial reports indicate a middle-aged man was detained for questioning but later released. Houston Police homicide detective Sgt. Michael Cass tells CNN that a murder charge is likely. He says the self-defense argument doesn't apply because the location of the shooting "wasn't close to the house." "A witness says someone ran out of that house and was shooting at the kids running down the street," Cass adds, per KHOU. Several rifles and handguns have reportedly been seized from the home. The incident comes a few months after a teenager was fatally shot in Virginia while filming a "doorbell ditch" prank for TikTok. The suspect was charged with second-degree murder.
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