Global Courant 2023-04-25 04:26:37
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Published April 24, 2023 • Read for 2 minutes
Kinsley White, 6, shows reporters a wound on her face, Thursday, April 20, 2023 in Gastonia, N.C. A North Carolina man shot and injured a 6-year-old girl and her parents after children went to retrieve a basketball that had rolled into his yard, according to neighbors and the girl’s family – yet another in a string of recent shootings triggered by seemingly trivial reasons. Photo by Kara Fohner /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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GATONIA, NC (AP) — As the bullet pierced his lung and liver, all Jamie White could think about was getting his 6-year-old daughter to safety. A neighbor had opened fire after children went to get a basketball from his garden.
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“I was worried about my babies,” White told the Gaston Gazette. “I was already hit. I lost breath. I was on fire. I honestly didn’t think I would make it.”
Recuperating at home on Monday, White says every move hurts, but he’s lucky he and his family are still alive. His wife was also injured and his daughter was hit by bullet fragments lodged in her cheek.
The neighbor has now been arrested. The violence was the latest in a string of recent shootings sparked by seemingly trivial circumstances.
It seemed like a normal spring evening before the shootings. White, a supervisor at a chemical cleaning company, was grilling and his daughter was playing with other kids down the street. They live near Gastonia, a town of about 80,000 west of Charlotte.
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But a basketball rolled into Robert Louis Singletary’s yard. He confronted other neighbors about it and it seemed like a normal argument, White said. Then Singletary walked into his house to get a revolver.
“He comes running out the door and shoots at that man and his kids,” White said. “At that point I left. My baby was also on the way. My little girl and about 10, 12 other kids were down there. They were all stunned.”
White said he told Singletary to stop shooting because of the kids.
Singletary replied, “I’m shooting at you…” and pointed the revolver at White and his girl Kinsley.
My daughter is right in front of me. I look and see, and he’s pointing right at my daughter,” White said. “And I just ran to my daughter… and then he got me.”
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Singletary was out on bail in a December attack in which authorities say he assaulted a woman with a hammer.
“None of this would have happened if the justice system had done its job,” White said.
Singletary fled after the shooting. He was arrested in Florida two days later. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and a firearms charge.
Singletary’s grandmother, Brita Betsy, told WSOC-TV that the shooting was inexcusable, but that another neighbor threatened to shoot down Singletary’s house during the ordeal. She said Singletary also struggles with anxiety.
“My grandson suffers from PTSD. He was shot at age 15,” she said.
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