A family in Fredericksburg, Va. is in mourning after a high school senior was gunned down. Now, the alleged shooter is in custody, and his alleged defense is raising questions. It all started when the victim and his two friends decided to play a prank in a local neighborhood.
“Ding dong ditch,” although annoying if you’re on the receiving end, is a well-known prank where someone rings the doorbell and runs away before the homeowner could catch who did it. Michael Bosworth, Jr., 18, and two other teens started the game in an unfamiliar neighborhood, but they were soon met with bullets.
Officials received an emergency call concerning a home invasion in progress around 3 a.m. on Saturday (May 3), according to a statement by the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office. When deputies arrived to the scene of the crime, they found Bosworth and another teen suffering from gunshot wounds. Bosworth was rushed to the hospital, where he would be pronounced dead. A second teen survived with “mild injuries,” and another was not wounded.
The alleged shooter, a resident named Tyler Chase Butler, was taken into custody. He told police the three teens were trying to break into his house, but the surviving teens told a different story, according toNBC 4 Washington.
According to them, the trio was simply playing a prank which was meant to be uploaded to TikTok. They provided police their phones to verify, using earlier videos and pictures from that night to hopefully corroborate their story, according to Law & Crime. Police have not confirmed their findings. One of the teens said they were looking for a place to hide after ringing Butler’s doorbell. That’s when shots rang off, grazing him and killing his friend, Bosworth.
Bosworth was a senior at Massaponax High School, who played lacrosse, football and was on the wrestling team, his stepfather told NBC 4 Washington. The 18-year-old was also set to attend his senior prom, which was scheduled for the same day he was killed.
Massaponax Principal William Lancaster III responded to the tragedy sharing he was “saddened” to announce the news of the teen’s death. He also revealed he reached out to Bosworth’s family to offer support.
The suspect, Butler, has now been charged with “Murder 2nd degree, Malicious Wounding and two counts of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony,” according to an updated statement by police. He was denied bond and remains in custody at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.