Yes, there are lots of stupid people running around loose these days...and it's not only kids. What about these kids' parents? Are they so clueless as not to know that their dumbass little brats are outside running around in the middle of the night?

Little or no supervision at home, coupled with unfettered access to all the crazy schit on the internet, results in behavior like this. And it's only gonna get worse...

No so much these days. Kids can be much more defiant now and get away with it. Too many parents are reluctant to discipline their kids for fear of getting reported to CPS. My niece's son once talked at school about how mean his mom was and it got back to a teacher who contacted CPS. The whole thing was overblown and wound up causing my niece considerable grief.

Another back in my day anecdote...if I got caught screwing up by a neighbor I'd get a whack from them, dragged home and get more whacks from my old man.

It finally happened. It's a shame/tragedy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/05/07/virginia-tiktok-prank-student-shot/

The kids say that they were doing "ding dong ditch" (at 3 am) which normally means ringing the doorbell and then running. The person that called the police said that "a resident had fired shots after three people tried to kick down a door" which is a bit different. It'll be interesting to hear how this turns out.

^^^ No surprise there. It was just a matter of time. I found out a few days ago that my nephew was having this done somewhat regularly to the point that his 6" door jamb was cracked and the door now needs replaced. They caught the people responsible.

Wow, I haven't heard of anyone that's had it happen other than stories on the net via news. What a scary PITA that would be. Glad that they were caught. Hopefully, they got in enough trouble to learn a lesson.

This was just on the local news with RING cam video and an interview of the victim. My wife and I both commented at the time, someone is going to get shot.

We were camping recently and this same thing happened with us in our trailer with our friends. My buddy went to chase them down but didn't find anyone. They are lucky he didn't, he was pissed.

Wow, even when camping. That would be even more of a jolt than in bed in your home, I would think.

I told my nephew he should have called me. We could have installed a few of these and had some fun with them.

https://www.amazon.com/Perimeter-Camping-Warning-Security-Property/dp/B0DT5L1HHD/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.B-0hDZaELqYn3IKfoaXkf74LRH8Xs6nP7WZifSmHRlLZhRoJmYFA Sq6S06tqRaiXrezph5i1nUQrliDbdtFUK23W6lXBIgjQ33p034 sDc-wZz3hNereRySWw9FoGI-_NPsGHC-WWm2WXL0bsE7-EopURPDZ2zOiMGWEkHoXQylPDkpaZFNjZoLDpYc2oeb_N6NTOg ingDWVoP_9mH1mei2H7IaNpMaUEIVPn9FzVA7kTgqLZkBAB8mW LZ8NlSiiyriZBxhSkALGGBaF-HYHf6lxnWTKA_RqG9MGpzIKxsX4.b_Vbln5xpFVhBxg6zkIv2U zx1JlUBHVBaEPsaF_hNeY&dib_tag=se&hvadid=6939207070 80&hvdev=c&hvexpln=67&hvlocphy=9015981&hvnetw=g&hv ocijid=16084659894385003197--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16084659894385003197&hvtargid=k wd-1056637079745&hydadcr=13160_13365926&keywords=12%2 Bgauge%2Bperimeter%2Btrip%2Bwire&mcid=70d3175e4801 31a0b2beabb7ce21de60&qid=1747153859&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Nice!

Another fun option
<iframe width="450" height="800" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uKhSepIomQU" title="Motion-activated sprinkler is one way to keep people away" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I believe there are also motion activated paintball guns.

Tragic and so predictable :(.

Yep, and preventable by the simple phrase "don't be a dumbaß".

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Interesting that VA charged the homeowner with attempted murder in this case. Unless he chased them down the street and shot them in the back I have a hard time seeing where it’s not justified.

The article said that one of the boys had a video where they were doing "ding dong ditch"

My guess is that the boss started by just ringing doorbells and eventually escalated. If the police saw a video where the boys just rang the doorbell and ran, then I think they would have to arrest the guy.

And here's the nightmare side of the coin, obviously perpetrated by a moron. What some folks think is OK or reasonable is shocking.

There’s a big difference between kids playing ding dong ditch and actually kicking in doors. No way I’m pointing a gun at a kid who rings my doorbell, no matter how annoying it may be.

Right, I get it. That's why I called it the nightmare version. This guy was obviously a moron, or possibly the king of the morons. It's shocking to me what some people think is OK.

I have a nice big basement - perfect for waterboarding

About a month ago I heard some boys voices as they went walking by, for some reason I had an intuition to take a look out toward the street just as they turned and started walking back looking towards our house, this was midweek and midday.

I had walked into our living room to see what they were up to, the blinds were down and only partially open.
Sure as heck a kid maybe 10 turned towards our house and started running down the driveway just as he turned onto our sidewalk I yanked up the blinds and tapped on the glass loud.
He came to a sudden stop and looked very surprised, I held up my hands gesturing what?

He looked down turned his butt around and sheepishly rejoined his little group, they all took off quickly.

I can only hope being surprised that they are being watched and caught almost in the act took the fun out of those antics.

I did some dumb things as a kid but would never have considered kicking someone's door.
That is absolutely asking for a bad outcome.

I'm heartbroken to hear about the 11 year old that got shot in the back and died over something so very stupid. That homeowner was in the wrong for using deadly force, that's completely uncalled for IMHO.

Same here.....but I have a 10 ft pit down there with a rope and a bucket on it. :)

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