A Virginia homeowner has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a high school athlete who was out with his buddies filming pranks for TikTok at 3 in the morning on Saturday.
Tyler Chase Butler, 27, was arrested Tuesday and charged with second-degree murder, malicious wounding, and two counts of use of a firearm when he opened fire at the three teens, killing 18-year-old Michael Bosworth Jr. and wounding another teen, WRC reported.
Bosworth was a senior at Massaponax High School, where the played lacrosse and football and wrestled.
Butler told investigators he thought the boys were trying to break into his home. The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office was called about a burglary in process with shots fired by a homeowner.
But after hearing the boys plead that they were just filming ding dong ditch pranks for TikTok,they arrested Butler. The third teen, who was not shot, showed them video of an earlier prank on his phone. Police did not say why the boys were in Butler’s back yard or how Butler could have known they were pranking him.
Neighbors told WTTG that other homeowners also thought the teens were trying to break in as they roamed around the neighborhood in the early hours of the morning.
“I’m sorry the kid did that,” said Shawn Morrell. “I wish he hadn’t done what he did because he had to pay the ultimate price. Nobody likes that. Nobody. Not even the homeowner.”
Meanwhile, Butler is being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail, WRC said.
