Pryor Teen Shot While 'Ding Dong Ditching' In Neighborhood

Friday, January 1st 2016, 2:12 pm

By: News On 6

A 14-year-old Pryor boy is out of surgery after being shot several times by his neighbor who has not been arrested.

Police said the teen and two of his friends were ringing doorbells and running off early New Year's Day when the homeowner came out to his front yard and started firing.

The case has been handed over to the district attorney who is looking into whether the shooting was justified.

The call went out as a home invasion, but when police got to the scene they quickly heard a different story. Police said the three boys did not try to break into the home.

"Currently, the investigation suggests that the juveniles were engaged in neighborhood pranks and not attempting to break into the residence," said Chief of Police Steven W. Lemmings.

Cole Peyton is a freshman at Pryor High School. He's a football player, a wrestler and on the Honor Roll.

Pryor Police said he and two friends were walking through Peyton's neighborhood around 1:30 New Year's morning - ringing some doorbells and running off - when the prank resulted in gunshots.

Neighbor Samantha Perry said, "We saw three kids walking down by the newer houses. It was kind of odd, but didn't think anything of it."

Perry lives down the street and saw the teens earlier in the night. She didn't hear the shots fired but saw the sirens.

"I mean, that's just kids being kids right there, I don't think there should've been anything like that involved," she said.

Lemmings said the teens were trespassing on the man's property near the 1100 block of SE 15th Street when he fired several shots while outside his home.

"The investigation now centers around whether the homeowner's use of deadly force was lawful or illegal. No arrests have been made at this point," Chief Lemmings said.

Peyton's mom, now with her son at a Tulsa hospital, said the boys rang the doorbell earlier in the night and were coming home when the boys walked past the house again, and the shooting started.

Peyton told his mom the man yelled, "Hey," then shot him in the back, to which he yelled to his friends, "Run!"

Peyton was also shot in the arm. The other bullet punctured his liver and went through his body.

Peyton's wrestling coach describes the teen as "a great kid to be around," saying his thoughts and prayers are with him.

We rang the shooter's doorbell but no one answered.

The shooter has not been arrested and the Mayes County district attorney is looking into whether the shooting was lawful.