An angry neighbour shot a 6-year-old girl and her parents in North Carolina after a basketball rolled into their yard on Tuesday night, April 18.
The victims, Kinsley White, her mother Ashley Hilderbrand, and father William White, were injured when the gunman opened fire in Gaston County, enraged by the bouncing ball.
Mr. White sustained critical injuries while trying to protect his daughter.
According to neighbors, a group of kids playing basketball accidentally trespassed the ball into the alleged gunman’s yard, which infuriated the suspected shooter, Robert Louis Singletary. He fired at a neighbor and then returned to shoot at the family, injuring the young daughter who needed stitches on her face from bullet fragments, WSOC-TV reported.
Hilderbrand, the mother, was grazed by a bullet and is recovering at home with her daughter, while the father remains hospitalized as he attempted to draw gunfire toward him to keep his kids safe before getting struck in the back.
Kinsley confronted the shooter, questioning why he shot her father and her. Neighbors recounted that Singletary kept shooting until he ran out of bullets.
Hilderbrand mentioned that the shooter threatened her husband and daughter, saying, ‘I’m going to kill you.’
The authorities are searching for the suspect, Singletary, who has been charged with multiple offenses and is considered armed and dangerous. The police department is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
“This sort of violence will not stand,” stated Police Chief Stephen Zill, addressing the community and emphasizing that the US Marshals are not involved in the search for Singletary.