For some people, there’s nothing quite like pulling off a good prank. Personally, I think they’re rarely worth the risk, but who am I to yuck someone else’s yum? As long as no one gets hurt, I guess pranks are not so bad. A group of people in Virginia recently played what they thought was a just a a Halloween prank, but what they didn’t anticipate was the family members they played the prank on calling the police.
Their seemingly harmless joke led to a days-long investigation. The prank took place on October 14, 2025, USA Today reported. A group of people showed up not long before 10 p.m. on the doorstep of a home in Alexandria, wearing terrifying costumes, according to Alexandria Police Department Public Information Officer Rebekka Heite. She said at the time that police were looking for three individuals.
Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire called the incident “a very serious matter.”
“They began to act as if they were engaging in a prank,” he said. “That prank that was alleged to have happened later turned serious as they began to make threatening and alarming comments to the family. People who are in their residences, according to our laws and laws across our nation, can defend themselves.”
Footage of the people terrorizing the home was captured on the homeowner’s Ring camera and began to go viral. In the video, one of the individuals can be seen ringing the doorbell. When no one answers, they begin to take turns.
“It’s either you come out or we come in,” they say in the clip.
Shayla Whiteside, the woman who lives in the house, was legitimately terrified when she realized it might not be a joke.
“They tried forcing the front door open, jiggled the handles, broke down my backyard fence, and tore through the back screen, screaming threats, saying that they will kill us and that they were coming back,” she told Storyful.
Police immediately began investigating who the masked trio could be and implored anyone with information to step forward.
After 100 hours of investigation, detectives identified the three masked individuals as cousins of the people who live in the house. During an October 27 press conference, the police chief said investigators received many tips. Later, they contacted one of the suspects, an adult woman, who confessed she was part of the Halloween prank along with her two sons and a nephew.
“I’m not aware of incidents that have occurred this heinous before, and that’s why it’s so concerning,” McGuire said, per USA Today. After calling the incident a “moral failure,” McGuire pointed out that someone could have been hurt.
He shared that Whiteside had called her brother after calling 911. He arrived at her home with a loaded gun, the newspaper reported. The police chief said the family who lived in the house gave no indication they were aware of the prank.
“Adults should be accountable for their children, and not exercise this type of behavior. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for their family,” McGuire said.
No criminal charges will be filed, according to authorities. Because the family isn’t pressing charges, the names of the suspects will not be released.
