North Carolina man surrenders in Florida after allegedly shooting 3 people when basketball rolls in yard

A man accused of shooting a 6-year-old girl and two others after a basketball rolled into his yard in North Carolina was arrested Thursday in Florida. 

Robert Singletary, 24, surrendered to authorities in Tampa, Florida, according to Gaston County Police Department. The Hillsborough County Sheriff confirmed his identity just before 7 p.m. 

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Singletary allegedly opened fire at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday evening in Gastonia, injuring James White, who remains in serious condition, Ashley Hilderbrand, who sustained a graze wound and the child. Another person was shot at but not hit, police said. 

Family members told Queen City News the violent incident stemmed from a basketball rolling into Singletary’s yard as a group of children played a game.  

“He came out with a gun, he started shooting,” the injured child, identified by relatives as Kinsley White, told the news outlet. “Hope my daddy is okay.”

Hilderbrand, the child’s mother, told the news station she heard “pow, pow, pow, pow, and I thought it was fireworks. Then I heard the pow, pow, pow, and everybody started yelling, get in the house, get in the house, get in the house, get in the house.”

Singletary is expected to appear in a Florida court on Friday.