Page 17 - IAV Digital Magazine #626

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
11-year-old Boy Fatally Shot In Houston After ‘Ding Dong Ditch’ Doorbell-ringing Prank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VVNUCVdsKc
By Jack Brook, AP
An 11-year-old boy was fatally shot in Houston after a prank in which he rang the doorbell of a home and ran away, police said Sunday.
The boy had been ringing doorbells as a prank late Saturday evening, the Houston Police Department said in a statement. Commonly referred to as “ding dong ditching,” the prank involves fleeing before someone inside the home opens the door.
The boy, who has not yet been identified, died of his wounds Sunday, police said.
Police spokesperson Shay Awosiyan said that officers
were still investigating and had not arrested anybody in connection with the boy’s death as of Sunday evening.
Other “ding dong ditch” pranks have turned deadly in the past. In 2023, a Southern California man was convicted on three counts of first-degree mur- der for killing three teenage boys by intention- ally ramming their car after they rang his doorbell as a prank.
And in May, a Virginia man was charged with second- degree murder for fatally shooting an 18-year-old who had rung his doorbell while a filming a TikTok video of the prank, the New York Times reported.
Little Johnny was playing in his room when his dad walked in and explained that he and his mom were getting a divorce.
“Why Daddy?” asked a confused Little Johnny.
“Well, son” he explained,
“Your mother and I are no longer in love.
”Now more con- fused, Little Johnny asked, “What does being in love mean?”
“Let me give you an example, son. Love is when a husband rushes home from a long day at work to embrace and kiss his wife at the door.
Your mom and I have lost that love.”
“But Daddy, I see Mommy getting excited lots of times right when you come home, so she must still be in love with you.”
“I don’t under-
stand, son.
When has your mother recently been excited when I arrive home from work?”
“Well, sometimes when Mommy is still sleeping in bed with the neighbor, and you pull into the drive- way, she shouts at the top of her lungs, ‘My hus- band’s home! My husband’s home!
Three couples marry and stay at the same hotel for their honey- moons, where they are taken care of by Dave the bellboy.
The first man married a nurse.
Dave thinks to himself, “Nurses are known to be hot to trot.”
The second man married a tele- phone operator. Dave thinks to himself, “Telephone oper- ators have nice voices.”
The third man married a school teacher. Dave
thinks to himself, “Poor guy, teach- ers are frigid.”
The next morning, Dave reports to work and gets a room service call from the nurse’s husband.
He sourly says, “Don’t ever marry a nurse. All I heard last night was ‘You’re not sanitary, you’re not sanitary.'”
Then, the tele- phone
operator’s husband calls and sourly says, “Don’t ever marry a telephone operator.
All I heard last night was ‘Your three minutes are up, your three minutes are up.'”
Later that after- noon, the teacher’s hus- band calls and happily says, “When you marry, be sure to marry a school teacher. All I heard last night was ‘We are going to do this over and over until we get right.'”
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine