CITIZENS COMPASS – POLICE in the United States of America have declared a 24-year-old man Robert Louis Singletary wanted after he allegedly shot a 6-year-old girl and her father when their basketball rolled into his yard.
The incident recently occurred in North Carolina.
BBC reported two other victims, a woman and a man, were also injured in the incident that happened in the Gatson County neighbourhood on Tuesday.
Singletary faces four counts of first-degree attempted murder. Police have also charged the suspect with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
The suspect was previously known to police for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend with a sledgehammer in December.
Police in Gaston County first received a 911 call at 19:44 local time on Tuesday about the shooting.
Investigators later reported that a six-year-old child and her father were both seriously injured. An adult female was scraped by a bullet and a second adult male was shot, they said.
A neighbour told reporters that the shooting occurred after a basketball rolled into the suspect’s yard.
“They were playing basketball, and a ball rolled into his yard. They went to go and get it. It was just crazy,” said Jonathan Robertson, who lives in the Gaston County neighbourhood.
“We just never expected it in a million years. We never expected anybody would break a gun out amongst all those kids.”
Police said the suspect went inside his home and came out with a gun before he fired indiscriminately at neighbours. William and his daughter were struck as parents were rushing to gather their children.
The child has since spoken out about the shooting in an interview with a local ABC news channel, BBC said.
“The bullet came back and the bullet went in my cheek,” said the young girl, whose identity has not been made public.
She added that her father remains in a hospital in Charlotte. He is being treated for punctured lung and liver problems after he was shot in the back.
Police have issued warrants for Singletary’s arrest, said Gaston County Police Chief Stephen Zill in a statement on Wednesday.
Chief Zill added that “this sort of violence will not stand. We conducted a large-scale search overnight for Mr Singletary and we have partnered with the United States Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force to aid us as we continue to search.”
The shooting is the latest in a string of gun violence incidents across the US involving young Americans who are reported to have mistakenly approached the wrong person or home.
