Police Say North Carolina Man Shot 6-Year-Old Girl and Her Family After Basketball Rolled into His Yard –Suspect Reportedly Remains at Large

WSOC-TV in North Carolina reported that a 6-year-old child and her parents were shot Tuesday night.

24-year-old Robert Singletary, the man allegedly responsible for the shooting, was furious a basketball happened to roll into his yard while young children were playing.

Police say Singletary ran down the street and fired his gun at a neighbor. Singletary then allegedly returned and shot William White and his 6-year-old daughter Kinsley while they were running away.

Kinsley and her dad were seriously injured from the gunfire. The little girl was left with bullet fragments in her cheek while William remains in the hospital.

William heroically stood in the line of fire trying to protect his daughter and the rest of the children according WSOC-TV.

Kinsley’s mother, Ashley Hilderbrand, was grazed by a bullet but has since returned home.

Here is a recent picture of the White family.

Here is photo of Kinsley after being shot.

Police say the motive for the attack remains unknown.

Singletary was out on bond in a case involving him allegedly striking his girlfriend with a hammer.

WSOC-TV has more:

Kinsley, who has stitches from bullet fragments in her cheek, is in a position no child should be in. She’s worried about her father, who suffered the most serious injuries while he was trying to protect her. She spoke to Channel 9′s Ken Lemon while holding her grandfather’s hand, with sadness in her eyes and the daunting question on her mind.

“Why did you shoot my daddy and me? Why did you shoot a kid’s dad?” Kinsley asked.

Neighbors said Singletary was new to the area and often got angry with children in the neighborhood.

Kinsley’s mother told Lemon she was outside too, and said she heard Singletary make a threat.

“He looked at my husband and my daughter and told them, ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Ashley Hilderbrand said.

Hilderbrand said Singletary chased them while shooting, and Kinsley’s father tried to draw gunfire toward him and away from the children. He was shot in the back in his front yard.

Hilderbrand said Singletary kept shooting, missing repeatedly until he was out of bullets.

On Wednesday, Lemon was in the neighborhood as police performed a tactical search of Singletary’s home. They also went door to door in the community asking if neighbors had seen him.

Police said Singletary, 24, is still on the lam.

Authorities do not know if Singletary is on foot or in a vehicle. He’s described as 6 feet, 2 inches tall with brown eyes and black hair. He weighs about 223 pounds.

Gaston County police said in Tuesday’s incident, Singletary is charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and possession of a firearm by a felon. More charges are likely because of the shots fired into neighbors’ homes.

Police said they have help from U.S. Marshals in the search for Singletary.