Current Events > 6 y/o girl & parents were shot after basketball rolled into shooter's yard

(+) Yeah! (+)

Police are looking for a gunman after a 6-year-old girl and her parents were shot Tuesday night in Gaston County. Channel 9s Ken Lemon learned it all happened over a basketball that rolled into the suspects yard.

The shooting happened in the area of April Drive and Grier Street, which is in a neighborhood south of Gastonia.

Neighbors said several young children were playing basketball when the ball rolled down the street and into Robert Singletarys yard. They said Singletary got mad and ran down the street, firing a gun at a neighbor.

They said Singletary then came back, shooting at William White as White ran with his 6-year-old daughter, Kinsley.

Kinsley and her father were seriously hurt. Her mother, Ashley Hilderbrand, was grazed by a bullet and is back home now, but William White is still in the hospital.

We dont even know the man, Kinsley said.

Police are now looking for Singletary, 24, who is believed to be armed.

A Channel 9 crew saw several entrances to the neighborhood blocked off as police investigated Tuesday night. The neighborhood remained sealed off Wednesday morning.

The biggest question that still remains is why.

Kinsley, who has stitches from bullet fragments in her cheek, is in a position no child should be in. Shes worried about her father, who suffered the most serious injuries while he was trying to protect her. She spoke to Lemon while holding her grandfathers 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 kids dad? Kinsley asked.

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

William White became worried about his 6-year-old daughter just before Tuesdays shooting and ran down to protect her. Police said another man was shot at during the incident but was not hurt.

Kinsleys 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, Im going to kill you, Ashley Hilderbrand said.

Hilderbrand said Singletary chased them while shooting, and Kinsleys 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.

I believe he would have got me and my husband too, said Carolyn Hilderbrand, Kinsleys grandmother. He just run out of bullets.

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

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

Investigators told residents to stay indoors and call 911 if they see anything suspicious.

Singletary was previously accused of hitting his 21-year-old girlfriend in the head with a mini-sledgehammer in December 2022. He was out on bond for that case.

Gaston County police said in Tuesdays 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.

Well be damn sure to be loud and clear when this case comes to court, said District Attorney Travis Page.

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

Just please turn yourself in. There was no sense in what you did, said Ashley Hilderbrand.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/police-respond-gaston-county-neighborhood/HKCPDYZVJJDG5EYQ3FF3H4OOKM/

Good lord what the fuck is going on America

I think I'm just going to stay in my room until I can obtain citizenship and housing in a country that doesn't allow any nutcase who wants a gun to have a dozen of them.

Isn't this the fourth shooting this week?

Punished_Blinx posted...

Good lord what the fuck is going on America

To be completely fair, Gastonia, NC is probably the most dangerous, bottom-barrel, trashy, meth-riddled, unsafe, racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, ghetto city in North Carolina. Possibly the whole southeast.

My parents live there.

You think we will get one for each day of the week?
And it will continue so it is the new normal next month?

It sounds like they survived which is great news. I hope they can catch this guy alive and ask were you fearing for your life from the 6 yearly girl?

This is the America that America has chosen to create.

"My freedoms! Let me keep my guns!"

Secret_Asian_Man posted...

Isn't this the fourth shooting this week?

Fourth reported shooting this week.

Heartomaton posted...

Fourth reported shooting this week.

Fair.

this country and the people that support this/don't want to do anything about it are fucking trash

Omg Gastonia

Also what's wrong with people?

First somebody goes to the wrong house, then to the wrong driveway, then to the wrong car now the wrong yard...and they get shot. It's astounding only one of these people died

Secret_Asian_Man posted...

Isn't this the fourth shooting this week?

Let's see

This one
Cheerleaders started to open wrong car door
College kids pulled car into wrong driveway
Black kid rings doorbell
And there was that mass shooting at a birthday party

Believed to be armed? Oh you think so? Dude probably has to keep a gun on him just to take a pee in his own home.

More proof that gun owners just want to shoot people

Pro gun nuts are batshit insane. I've always been saying this and this is proof.

Yeah, in the midst of this week's paranoid gun nut rampage we even have state legislators wanting to make it legal for residents to carry concealed weapons without any sort of permitting or training. So maybe the next shooting will be over something as simple as 'accidentally bumped into the wrong person at the grocery store'.

It never ceases to absolutely baffle me how some posters here go "isolated incident #54616" where pitbulls are concerned, yet go "muh freedom" when faced with atrocities like this

Punished_Blinx posted...

Good lord what the fuck is going on America

What do you mean? Seems to be the norm

This is the trash ass society that Republicans want. Never forget that.

This is the perp at large if anyone happens to see him

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/0/7/AATz36AAEZnj.jpg

America: we dont have a problem with guns! We love guns.

Flauros posted...

This is the perp at large if anyone happens to see him

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/0/7/AATz36AAEZnj.jpg

Ahh they miight just do something about this one

Stay away from Gastonia and Gaston county.
Sincerely,
A North Carolinian

What the hell? This guy shouldn't have even been free to shoot at this poor family. He attacked his girlfriend with a sledgehammer. How the hell was he allowed to have any guns too?!

Why are you guys talking about this dude like he's just your average everyday American gun owner? He's a convicted felon who isn't legally allowed to own a gun, it's literally one of the charges against him

Bass posted...

How the hell was he allowed to have any guns too?!

He wasn't. One of the charges against him is possession of a firearm by a felon.

But just because someone isn't allowed to have something, it never means it's impossible for them to get it.

DipDipDiver posted...

Why are you guys talking about this dude like he's just your average everyday American gun owner? He's a convicted felon who isn't legally allowed to own a gun, it's literally one of the charges against him

So would the little girl be less shot by someone with a clean record?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


media sponsored paranoia combined with rugged individualism combined with more guns than people might have something to do with it

DipDipDiver posted...

Why are you guys talking about this dude like he's just your average everyday American gun owner? He's a convicted felon who isn't legally allowed to own a gun, it's literally one of the charges against him

The eagerness to shoot someone with very little justification is emblematic of the American gun owner, as has been shown several times this week.

Secret_Asian_Man posted...

Isn't this the fourth shooting this week?

the fourth one to make the news.

according to this, 329 people are shot everyday in the US. don't you just love the display of freedom?

https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2020/december/study-shows-329- people-are-injured-by-firearms-in-us-each-day-but-for-every-death-two-survive

Murphiroth posted...

The eagerness to shoot someone with very little justification is emblematic of the American gun owner, as has been shown several times this week.

I get that but it seems a little silly to draw a direct parallel between that and a habitual violent offender continuing to be violent. It's two different things

This is starting to sound like Pittbull news at this point with how often this is happening.

Zikten posted...

Let's see

This one
Cheerleaders started to open wrong car door
College kids pulled car into wrong driveway
Black kid rings doorbell
And there was that mass shooting at a birthday party

children are being shot by maniacs

Baha05 posted...

This is starting to sound like Pittbull news at this point with how often this is happening.

People getting shot in America sure does happen a lot.

This guy is unhinged. I read the story about him in December where he hit his girlfriend with a mini-sledge and then basically held her captive for a few hours. Hope they catch him.

Mistere_Man posted...

It sounds like they survived which is great news. I hope they can catch this guy alive and ask were you fearing for your life from the 6 yearly girl?

"The 6 year old girl could be armed!"

Fable posted...

To be completely fair, Gastonia, NC is probably the most dangerous, bottom-barrel, trashy, meth-riddled, unsafe, racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, ghetto city in North Carolina. Possibly the whole southeast.

My parents live there.

WOAH. WOAH. WOAH.

Don't disrespect Durham, Fayetteville, Rocky Mount, and Lumberton like that!

hope they catch the shitbag

Punished_Blinx posted...

Good lord what the fuck is going on America

Gun nut republicans take every opportunity to try and justify why guns shouldnt be heavily restricted

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

America sacrificed freedom of safety, thinking its less important than freedom to own a gun. They will never backtrack on that no matter how many innocent people are massacred. Just like they didnt even care enough to wear a mask and try and prevent a mountain of corpses during Covid. America simply does not care about freedom of safety

looks like they caught the shooter:

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1649205186689105923?cxt=HHwWhoCwpaTYk-MtAAAA

boxoto posted...

looks like they caught the shooter:

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1649205186689105923?cxt=HHwWhoCwpaTYk-MtAAAA

Life. No parole.

boxoto posted...

looks like they caught the shooter:

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1649205186689105923?cxt=HHwWhoCwpaTYk-MtAAAA

Good. Throw the book at him.

St0rmFury posted...

"The 6 year old girl could be armed!"

sad
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/2/0/AAYZyTAAEaKI.jpg