A 14-year-old girl in Louisiana miraculously survived a gunshot wound to the back of the head after playing hide-and-seek.
On Sunday, a group of children were playing hide-and-seek in their neighborhood in Starks, Louisiana, which lies near the Louisiana-Texas border.
One of the girls chose to hide in a neighbor’s yard, 58-year-old David Doyle.
According to the police report filed by the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, Doyle stated that he “observed shadows outside his home, at which time he went inside and retrieved his firearm. He then advised detectives he went back outside and observed people running away from his property, at which time he began shooting at them and unknowingly hit the girl.”
The girl was shot in the back of the head and was transported to the hospital. Thankfully, she didn’t suffer any life-threatening injuries.
As for Doyle, he was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and illegal discharge of said firearm, per ABC News.
Doyle remains in Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center as of Tuesday morning with a bail set at $300,000. He has also been appointed a public defender.
This is yet another incident that has followed a very unfortunate recent trend of people being shot for mistakenly trespassing and other non-violent misunderstandings – children nonetheless. Luckily, this girl survived. But that has not been the case for some of the other victims.
Similar instances have recently occurred in New York, North Carolina, Missouri, and Texas, all involving victims that were either children or young adults who weren’t trying to cause any trouble whatsoever.
Sources:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/14-year-girl-shot-head-neighbor-after-playing/story?id=99165059
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hide-and-seek-shooting-david-doyle-charged-with-shooting-girl/
https://www.cpso.com/2023/05/08/cpso-arrests-man-for-aggravated-assault-after-shooting/
