SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. — Massaponax High School seniors are mourning after their 18-year-old classmate, Michael Bosworth Jr., was shot and killed on Saturday during what police say was a prank gone wrong.
Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 27-year-old Tyler Chase Butler, charging him with second-degree murder, malicious wounding, and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
"It's very emotional, honestly, because we graduate next week," Bosworth's classmate Khamoni Keys told WJLA. "He was a very passionate person about stuff, you know. It's just sad he had to go the way he did."
The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call on May 3 at approximately 3 a.m. for a residential burglary in progress, where "a resident had fired shots."
While detectives say the initial 911 call was for an attempted home burglary, according to court documents, the teenagers told police they were playing a prank called "Ding Dong Ditch," where they ring doorbells and run away. They said they had done this to several homes, were filming themselves, and planned to post this on TikTok as part of a social media trend.
A second teenager was shot and survived, and a third was not hurt in the incident.
"Deputies responded to the area of McKenzie Lane and discovered that two individuals had sustained gunshot wounds, and a third individual was unharmed," a Spotsylvania County Sheriff's spokesperson said.
Butler was jailed without bond. WJLA reported the surviving teens were read their Miranda rights, but neither has been charged with a crime at this time.
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