UPDATE: Following a two-day manhunt, Robert Louis Singletary, 24, turned himself in to authorities in Tampa, Fla. on Thursday, the Gaston County Police Department said. He has been charged with four counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Singletary is expected to appear in court Friday to discuss his extradition from Florida back to North Carolina.
ORIGINAL STORY: Police in North Carolina are searching for a 24-year-old man accused of shooting a six-year-old girl, her parents, and another parent in the local neighbourhood after reportedly growing angry when the child’s basketball rolled into his yard.
This is just the latest incident of gun violence that has broken out in recent days seemingly due to innocuous mistakes.
Robert Louis Singletary, 24, is on the run and has been described as “armed and dangerous,” with civilians being advised not to approach him if spotted. Gaston County Police have a warrant out for his arrest for four counts of attempted 1st degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
No deaths have been reported from the shooting, though Gaston police wrote that one adult male and one juvenile were seriously wounded and transported to hospital for treatment.
The little girl that was shot spoke to local news outlet WBTV, and told them she was shot in the cheek. Her father was also struck, and is being treated for a punctured lung and liver complications, the outlet reported.
“I couldn’t get inside in time so he just… he shot my daddy in the back,” the 6-year-old said.
Local WSOC-TV reported that the child’s mother was also hit when gunfire broke out, consistent with a police update that an adult female was grazed by a bullet during the shooting. A second adult male was also shot at but not seriously injured, police said. He is reportedly the father of another child who was playing at the time.
WBTV spoke to neighbours in the area who were rocked by the violent incident.
“We just never expected it in a million years,” said Jonathan Robertson. “I mean that was insane.”
Robertson told the outlet that Singletary is well-known for yelling at the neighbourhood kids. He said a group of children were playing in the area when their basketball rolled into his yard, setting him off.
“They were playing basketball and a ball rolled into his yard and they went to go and get it,” Robertson said.
That’s when Singletary allegedly went back inside his home, came out with a gun, and unleashed a hail of bullets on the neighbourhood children and their parents.
The injured 6-year-old’s mother told WSOC-TV that Singletary chased residents down while shooting, and that her husband tried to draw his gunfire away from the children when he was shot in the back.
The mother said Singletary kept shooting until he ran out of bullets; he fled the area and is still at large.
Singletary is currently out on bond for separate charges of hitting his 21-year-old girlfriend in the head with a mini-sledgehammer in December 2022, WSOC-TV reported.
A US$1,000 reward for information about the case has been offered by Crime Stoppers of Gaston County.
Singletary is described by police as standing “6 feet, 2 inches tall with brown eyes and black hair, weighing approximately 223 pounds.”
In this past week, there have been three other cases of young people being shot after ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Two cheerleaders were shot in Texas after trying to enter the wrong vehicle, a 20-year-old woman who turned down the wrong driveway in New York was shot and killed and a 16-year-old who rang the wrong doorbell in Kansas City was shot.
— With files from Global News’ Sarah Do Couto
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