Gonzalo Leon charged in death of 11-year-old during ding-dong ditch

A Houston man has been charged in the fatal shooting of an 11 year old boy who was playing a doorbell prank late Saturday night in east Houston, police said. Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, was taken into custody by a Houston Police Department SWAT team on Tuesday and booked into the Harris County Jail in connection with the death of Julian Guzman, who was wounded after ringing or knocking on a home and running away, officials said.

Police and a probable cause affidavit say Guzman and a cousin had been attending a birthday party when they began knocking on doors in the neighborhood, a prank commonly called ding dong ditch. The affidavit and witness accounts differ slightly on whether the boys rang the bell or knocked, but agree they approached Leon's home multiple times. Investigators say Leon emerged from his house, fired once into the ground and then fired again at the fleeing children. Guzman, struck in the back, collapsed about a block away and was rushed to a hospital in critical condition; he died the following day.

A Houston Police homicide detective said the shooting did not appear to be an act of self defense. In my opinion it does not look like any type of self defense, Sgt....