Homeowner charged after boy, 11, fatally shot playing ‘ding dong ditch’

A homeowner who allegedly fatally shot an 11-year-old boy playing “ding dong ditch” over the weekend has now been charged with murder, cops said Tuesday.

Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, is accused of gunning down Julian Guzman just moments after the child rang the doorbell of his Houston home late Saturday night.

The boy had been playing the prank, which involves ringing a doorbell and then fleeing to mess with homeowners, with a group of his friends at the time.

“Officers were told that Guzman was ringing doorbells of homes in the area and running away,” police said in a statement.

“A witness stated Guzman was running from a house after ringing the doorbell just prior to suffering a gunshot wound.”

Authorities took in a person for questioning in the immediate aftermath of the shooting but they were later released.

The boy, meanwhile, was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead on Sunday, according to cops.

Leon was taken into custody by a SWAT team on Tuesday and has since been booked into the Harris County Jail on a murder charge.

The incident is just the latest to turn deadly after the prank started surging in popularity on social media in recent years.

A Virginia homeowner allegedly shot and killed a high school athlete after the teen and his friends knocked on the door of his home in May.

A teen was shot and wounded after a group of kids pulled the same prank on a gun-toting Maine homeowner in July last year.