A Long Island man was caught after shooting a 15-year-old kid who knocked on his door during a sleepover as part of a ‘ding dong ditch’ prank with his buddies. After shooting a shotgun at the adolescent on Thursday, James Moshier’s Southhold, 64, was charged with attack and dangerously harming a kid with a lethal weapon.
The unnamed youngster had to be taken to a local hospital, where he is being monitored yet is believed to bounce back. On Thursday night, a group of seven teenagers gathered at a neighboring residence for an overnight birthday celebration. They became bored throughout the night and decided to play ding dong ditch, a game in which youngsters ring someone’s doorbell and run away before anybody answers the door. However, the small boy’s prank backfired, and a woman inside Moshier’s home thought they were being burglarized.
‘We had few children running around the neighborhood knocking on doors and running away, and one of the residents felt someone was attempting to get into the house, felt threatened, felt afraid, and woke up the male tenant of the house, who went to the back door and released a shotgun,’ said Southold Town Police Captain James Ginas.
The homeowner discharged his shotgun through the glass after three knocks on Moshier’s door, wounding the youngster in the upper right arm. The boy originally raced back to his buddies, afraid and bleeding, stating he feared he had been hit with a grenade. He was finally taken to a nearby hospital, where he is being monitored yet expected to recuperate completely.
Moshier was accused of aggravated assault and thoughtlessly harming a kid with a lethal weapon. He was freed on $20,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court again next week.
While the boy is anticipated to be well, police advised children to “be wise.” Southold Police Capt. James Ginas stated that at times what one believes to be innocent pranks evolve into significant problems.
Hoping the kid recovers soon.
