KEY POINTS

  • The victim and his friends were playing a game of doorbell ditch, according to reports
  • The suspect allegedly fired a shotgun at the teens, apparently believing they were intruders, not pranksters
  • The victim was struck in the arm but is expected to fully recover from his injuries

A 64-year-old man in Long Island, New York, was arrested after allegedly shooting a 14-year-old boy who knocked on his door as a prank Thursday night.

James Moshier was charged with assault and recklessly injuring a child with a deadly weapon after allegedly shooting the teen in the arm at his home on Peconic Bay Boulevard in Southold around 9 p.m. Thursday, WABC-TV reported.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to News 12.

The boy, whose identity was not revealed, was one of seven teenagers who were having a birthday party sleepover that night near Moshier’s residence.

Teens who said they were at the sleepover with the victim told News 12 that the victim and another teen were bored and picked a random house in the neighborhood to doorbell ditch. The children's prank involves a doorbell of a home being rung, and the pranksters running away before the occupants of the home open the door.

The victim knocked on Moshier's front and back door several times. As a result, a woman who lived in the home allegedly thought that the house was being burglarized and woke Moshier, Southold Town police said.

Moshier allegedly went to the backdoor and discharged a shotgun through the door, police said. The child was struck in the arm, according to authorities.

"We had several kids that were running around the neighborhood knocking on doors and running away and one of the residents felt that somebody was trying to get into the house, felt threatened, felt frightened, and woke up the male occupant of the house, who went to the back door and discharged a shotgun," Southold Town Police Captain James Ginas said in a report by CBS News.

The victim's friends said he ran back to the sleepover frightened and bleeding and thought he had been hit with a grenade.

The boy was airlifted to a local hospital where he was placed under observation. He is expected to fully recover from his injuries.

Moshier was released after posting $20,000 bail. He is expected to return to court next week.

Following the incident, Ginas cautioned kids to be smarter when it comes to pulling pranks.

“Sometimes what we think are harmless pranks turn into major incidents,” the police captain stated.

Doorbell
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