Houston authorities on Tuesday arrested and charged a man accused of chasing after and fatally shooting an 11-year-old boy who was caught playing the ding-dong-ditch prank on the suspect’s home.
Harris County court records show Leon Gonzalo Jr., 42, was booked into jail Tuesday on a murder charge following the shooting late Saturday.
Houston police identified the boy as Julian Guzman.
Authorities said Julian and two of his friends were going around the neighborhood ringing doorbells when they arrived at the suspect’s residence shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday.
Police said that after the boys rang the suspect’s doorbell, Mr. Gonzalo raced to confront them as they tried to flee.
“Our witness says the suspect came out of the door, ran out into the street and was firing down the road,” Sgt. Michael Cass told local media.
Police said the suspect’s gunfire hit Julian in the back. The preteen made it a block away from the house before he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital.
Julian died Sunday while receiving treatment, police said.
“In my opinion, it doesn’t look like any type of self-defense,” Sgt. Cass said, who added that the suspect “wasn’t close to the house.”
Authorities said Mr. Gonzalo was detained immediately after the shooting, and investigators questioned him when the boy died of his injuries the next day.
Detectives seized several handguns and rifles from inside the home during a warranted search.
Mr. Gonzalo is scheduled to make his first appearance in court Tuesday.
Julian’s slaying follows similar incidents around the country of door-knocking pranks ending with deadly consequences.
In May, a man from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was arrested and accused of shooting and killing 18-year-old Michael Bosworth Jr., who carried out the prank in the dead of night.
The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said Tyler Chase Butler, 27, was charged with second-degree murder and malicious wounding in the 3 a.m. shooting that killed Bosworth and left a juvenile boy injured.
A police report showed the pranksters were making TikTok videos of their stunts prior to shooting.
“I think it’s crazy that these individuals are out here trying to play a game like that,” Jeffrey Butler, the suspect’s father, told WTOP News. “If that is a game that is being played, I believe that game would be played on your front door, not your back door.”
Mr. Butler is being kept behind bars as his court case plays out.
And in July, police in Frisco, Texas, said they took a homeowner into custody on aggravated assault charges after he shot the driver of a fleeing car that was linked to a door-banging prank at his home.
The driver survived the shooting, and police said all occupants of the vehicle admitted to visiting a random neighborhood for the gag until an armed resident confronted them.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.