Trick-or-treat boy shot dead on doorstep in US

A 12-year-old boy trick-or-treating with his family was shot dead and his father and brother wounded as gunfire erupted from inside a house.

Police in South Carolina, called the Halloween night shooting an isolated incident and said a suspect was in custody.

The family was heading home from a city-sponsored event when they decided to stop at a few homes, Police Chief Patty Patterson said. The father and his four children approached a home with a porch light on at about 8.30pm while the children’s mother waited nearby in a vehicle.

The family thought they heard fireworks, then the boy, his father and brother were hit by the gunfire. The boy died later in hospital, coroner Verna Moore said. The other two children were not hurt.

The boy’s father and brother were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police have not released the man’s name or the identities of the family.

Police said there were other people inside the home at the time of the shooting, but Ms Petterson said she did not expect them to be charged.

A neighbour said he heard a loud noise about the time of the shooting and thought it was simply Halloween mischief.

“I thought, trick-or-treat night – pranks go down. Anything goes,” said Lenwood Dixon, 49. “I heard a noise like maybe gunfire, then my daughter saw a bunch of lights flashing and saw some cops.”

“I’m surprised. Since I was here, I’d never heard of anything like that happening. It’s a quiet neighbourhood.

“You don’t see many children in the neighbourhood. It’s more elderly.”