Ring a doorbell, get shot. Why is dingdongditch so dangerous? Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAYSeptember 7, 2025 at 5:03 AM 0 Ring a doorbell, get shot. Why is dingdongditch so dangerous? A young person approaches a home, rings the doorbell (maybe knocks too) and runs.
- - Ring a doorbell, get shot. Why is ding-dong-ditch so dangerous?
Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAYSeptember 7, 2025 at 5:03 AM
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Ring a doorbell, get shot. Why is ding-dong-ditch so dangerous?
A young person approaches a home, rings the doorbell (maybe knocks too) and runs.
It's a centuries-old prank that at its best is a harmless annoyance for victims. You may know it by its playful names: Ding-dong-ditch, ring-and-run.
Now, the prank is in the news yet again after an 11-year-old boy in Houston was shot and killed.
A criminal complaint says Julian Guzman and his cousin were two bored youngsters at a family party when they decided to venture off on their own for some mischievous fun in the neighborhood. After playing the prank at the home of Gonzalo Leon Jr., they were running away when Leon fired a gun, hitting Julian in the back and killing him. Leon was charged with murder.
It's the latest example of violence that started with the prank. But controversy surrounding door-knocking pranks is nothing new.
In the 1800s, the U.K. explicitly banned ding-dong-ditch behavior.
The law targeted "Every person who shall wilfully and wantonly disturb any inhabitant by pulling or ringing any door-bell or knocking at any door without lawful excuse, or who shall wilfully and unlawfully extinguish the light of any lamp."
What we know: Suspect in ding-dong-ditch murder shot at boys running from his house
The history of ding-dong-ditch and other such pranks
Ding-dong-ditch has had many names through history and in different regions. It's known as knock down ginger, knock and run, Nicky Nicky nine doors and even a racist name in some places.
It's in a category of pranks that have been evolving since a few hundred years ago, when the concept of private property began emerging, according to University of Iowa Chair of Communication Studies Kembrew McLeod, who wrote the book "Pranksters: Making Mischief in the Modern World."
The privatization of property "created a kind of enticement for kids primarily to transgress on someone else's property in a really fun way," McLeod said.
Another "prank" in that category is trick-or-treating, which was once a much less tame and socially acceptable endeavor, McLeod said. In the 1800s and 1900s, the tradition of trick-or-treating in its early days was a kind of "threat," he said: Give me a treat, or I'm going to create mischief or havoc.
Like trick-or-treating, ding-dong-ditch pranks can escalate, with some versions targeting the same homeowner repeatedly or battering on a door in a threatening manner.
Pranks can turn deadly
In recent years, there have been several incidents of homeowners and residents shooting at kids and teenagers or otherwise reacting with deadly force over what started as a game of ding-dong-ditch.
In perhaps the most deadly recent example, Anurag Chandra of California killed three 16-year-olds who played the doorbell prank at his house in 2020. Chandra got into his car and chased a group of fleeing teens in their vehicle, ramming into it and causing it to crash into a tree. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders.
The fatal shooting of Julian Guzman late on the night of Aug. 30 came after authorities said the two boys repeatedly knocked at Leon's door. Leon was arrested and charged with murder.
In another ding-dong-ditch prank in 2025, a Virginia 18-year-old was shot and killed in May and a homeowner charged with crimes including second-degree murder. Another teen was injured in that shooting. The teens were said to be filming a TikTok video.
Such cases go back over two decades in the U.S. In 2003, Jay Levin shot Mark Drewes, who had been playing ding-dong-ditch and died of his injuries on his 16th birthday, according to the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network. Levin pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 52 weekends in jail and 10 years of probation, of which he served five, the Palm Beach Daily News reported, also of the USA TODAY Network.
Guns up the danger
McLeod remembers doing the prank, which he knew by the name "ring and run," as a kid.
"I can remember doing that without any consequences. Nothing negative happened," he said.
But in a nation with high levels of gun ownership and laws that emphasize the right to defend one's own property, McLeod said it can no longer be considered just a low-risk childhood game. Though he suspects fewer kids these days do the prank at all because of the rise of screens and social media, McLeod said it's telling that we have seen so many examples of ding-dong-ditch shootings in recent years.
The spate of ding-dong-ditch killings has led some authorities to urge kids and teens not to do the prank at all.
"This simple game can escalate and become dangerous," warned the Northampton Township Police Department in Pennsylvania.
It's especially dangerous, and potentially criminal, when the game of ringing or knocking and running turns into something more extreme, authorities have said. In some cases, young people have caused damage to homes by kicking in doors, turning a prank into a crime.
The case of Julian Guzman was not that, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told Fox 26. Teare said the boys were just knocking and running away.
"Kids have been doing this for decades," he said.
"Typically this 'prank' is annoying, but usually harmless. However, with technology such as Ring doorbell cameras, children are now concealing their faces with ski masks," the Fort Thomas, Kentucky, Police Department said in 2023, adding that kids have caused damage and created loud disturbances.
"FTPD is concerned that if these acts continue, a homeowner may take action to protect their property and people may be physically injured," the Fort Thomas Police Department said.
There is no law that specifically prohibits ding-dong-ditching in most or all states in the U.S., according to California criminal defense attorney Peter Liss, but escalated or extreme behavior can certainly be dangerous and even illegal. For example, repeatedly targeting a specific home with doorbell pranking could turn into harassment, or if warned to stay away, trespassing, Liss said. If you kick and damage a door, that's vandalism.
A more recent trend driven by TikTok challenges and a desire for social media clout in the last few years has also led to some of the damaging behavior, or even outright attempts to make homeowners think someone is breaking in, Liss said. But a homeowner who owns a firearm should never overreact, especially by shooting at someone who is running away, he said.
"It's really understandable for parents to sit their kids down and explain to them, be candid about the risks of surprising someone in today's heavily armed society," McLeod said. "It's also unfortunate because it does put the onus on parents or the kids as opposed to the adult firearm owners who should not be shooting at small, fleeing children."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is ding-dong-ditch dangerous? Warnings span centuries.
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