SPOKANE, Wash. — A dangerous social media trend involving masked teenagers pounding on doors late at night has reached Spokane neighborhoods, leaving residents frightened and concerned.
Katie Schneider and her husband were jolted awake Monday night by violent pounding on their front door, an experience she described as “really very scary.”
“When you have two teenagers coming at your door with masks on, that’s really very creepy,” Schneider said. “I had a hard time getting back to sleep.”
The late-night disturbance wasn’t an attempted break-in, but rather, part of a dangerous social media trend known as the “door kicking challenge,” where participants film themselves forcefully kicking or pounding on strangers’ doors before running away.
Schneider was fortunate to have security cameras that captured the incident, allowing her to see it was teenagers playing a prank.
However, she worries about others who might not have the same technology or awareness of the trend.
“I think that context would have mattered and would have creeped us out a little bit less,” Schneider said. “A lot of people don’t know this is going on. I also worry about the vulnerable, the older people who probably really don’t get this kind of nonsense.”
The trend has spread across the country. Last week, a Virginia teenager participating in the challenge was shot and killed when a homeowner mistook the prank for a home invasion.
Schneider expressed concern not only for victims but also for the participants themselves.
“I just worry that they will meet the wrong person at 2:00 in the morning with their masks on,” she said. “I think it’s a really good lesson for parents to talk to their kids about. It is scary that they could meet somebody who is not as forgiving about it.”
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Schneider’s home isn’t the first target in the area. Another residence in the Northwood Estates neighborhood experienced a similar incident several weeks ago.
Law enforcement officials are urging teens not to participate in the challenge, emphasizing that what may seem like a harmless prank can quickly escalate into a dangerous or even deadly situation
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