Six-year-old has a bullet fragments lodged in her CHEEK after neighbor shot at her and her parents
A six-year-old girl has bullet fragments in her cheek after a neighbor opened fire on her and her parents when her basketball rolled into his yard.
Kinsley White and other neighborhood kids were playing on the street in Gaston County, North Carolina, Tuesday night when her neighbor Robert Louis Singletary, 24, snapped about the stray ball.
Singletary reportedly became angry and began firing at White and her parents, both of whom were also hit or scraped by bullets.
“Why did you shoot my father and me? Why did you shoot a child’s father?’ Kinsley asked in an interview with WSOCappear with stitches in her cheek.
A manhunt has since begun for Singletary, who police and law enforcement officials say is “armed and dangerous” and is believed to have fled the area.
Six-year-old Kinsley White was shot in the cheek after a neighbor opened fire on her and her parents when her basketball rolled into his yard
White and other neighborhood kids were playing in the North Carolina street on Tuesday night when her neighbor Robert Louis Singletary, 24, snapped about the stray ball
Kinsley and her father, William White, were both seriously injured in the shooting.
According to Kinsley’s mother, at the time of the shooting, William was trying to distract the neighbor so other children could escape.
William was hit in the back by a bullet and is currently hospitalized.
Kinsley’s mother told WSOC that she was outside and heard Singletary make a threat to her family members.
“He looked at my husband and my daughter and said to them, ‘I’m going to kill you,'” Ashley Hilderbrand said.
She said the neighbor then chased after them during the shooting.
He reportedly kept firing until his gun ran out of bullets.
“I think he would have gotten me and my husband too,” said Carolyn Hilderbrand, Kinsley’s grandmother. “He’s just out of bullets.”
This is the White family, including Kinsley (on mother’s lap), William White (center), and Ashley Hilderbrand (left). Ashley, Kinsley and William were all injured in the shooting
Now the family wonders why.
“We don’t even know the guy,” Kinsley told WSOC.
The young girl spoke to the local news station several hours after the incident and still had bullet fragments lodged in her cheek.
While speaking to reporters, she held her grandfather’s hand and fought back tears.
Kinsley also repeatedly expressed concern for her father’s health.
According to neighbors who spoke to local outlets, Singletary was new to the area and known to get angry with the local children.
William had become aware of other alleged run-ins with the new neighbour, so he ran downstairs to protect his daughter.
Law enforcement officials told the media that this is not the first time Singletary has run afoul of the law.
In December 2022, Singletary was accused of hitting his girlfriend on the head with a mini sledgehammer.
He was later released on bail for that case.
The manhunt is now on for Singletary, who is described as a six-foot-tall black man with brown eyes and black hair.
Law enforcement officials have warned residents to stay indoors.
Singletary is in charge of four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill resulting in serious injury, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Additional charges are likely because shots entered neighbors’ homes, police said.
“We will be damn sure loud and clear when this case goes to court,” said District Attorney Travis Page.
“Please turn yourself in. It made no sense what you did,” Ashley Hilderbrand said.