NewsNation

Suspect in shooting of man, child over basketball in custody

(NewsNation) — A North Carolina man accused of shooting a man, his wife and the man’s 6-year-old daughter over a basketball that neighbors said rolled into his yard is in custody, according to officials.

Gaston County police said 24-year-old Robert Louis Singletary surrendered to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday afternoon.


Officials conducted a broad manhunt for Singletary, who fled after the Tuesday night shootings near Gastonia, a city of roughly 80,000 people west of Charlotte.

Police said in a statement Singletary will appear in court Friday for a hearing involving extradition to North Carolina.

Neighbors said the attack happened after some neighborhood children went to retrieve a basketball that had rolled into Singletary’s yard.

Neighbor Jonathan Robertson said Singletary, who had yelled at the children on several occasions since moving to the neighborhood, went inside his home, came back out with a gun and began shooting as parents frantically tried to get their kids to safety.

“As soon as I saw him coming out shooting, I was hollering at everybody to get down and get inside,” Robertson said.

Kinsley White, 6, and her mother Ashley Hildebrand joined NewsNation’s “Banfield” in an exclusive interview Thursday to discuss the injuries they suffered in the shooting.

“He’s not doing good,” Hildebrand said, describing her husband’s injuries. “He’s got several injuries … his liver’s split. His lungs got a piece missing. Broken ribs. He’s got a big ol’ hole in his back.”

Hildebrand said they are just trying to get by.

“It’s just been all so crazy,” she said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Kinsley White was wounded along with her mother and father, needing stitches on her face from bullet fragments.

“He had a gun,” Kinsley said. “He shot my daddy and he shot me.”

The incident is the latest in a string of recent shootings sparked by seemingly trivial circumstances.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.