A 14-year-old girl in Louisiana has been treated for non-life threatening injuries after being shot in her head by a neighbor.
Police say the teen and her friends were playing hide-and-seek when an older man in the community started shooting at them because they were hiding on his property.
The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested David V. Doyle, the owner of the Starks, Louisiana, property, who allegedly shot the girl in the back of her head while she was hiding near his house. He is charged with aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and the illegal discharge of a firearm.
According to Kayla Vincent, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, deputies were called to the scene of the shooting around 1 a.m. on Sunday, May 7.
Officials report that some juveniles “were playing hide and seek in the area and were hiding on the neighbor’s property” when one of them was shot by the property owner.
Deputies observed the minor lying with a gunshot wound to the back of the head when they arrived. The 58-year-old homeowner explained he saw shadows around his house and went inside to retrieve his gun.
Doyle reportedly told the detectives that when he returned outside, he saw “people” running and just started shooting. He grazed the girl’s head with a bullet.
The girl was no stranger to Doyle. They all lived on Jimmy Doyle Road, a dead-end stretch with only three families on it: Doyle, the victim’s family, and a relative of the victim’s family, KPLC reports.
Someone who knows the victim’s family says one of the kids playing with the victim was the shooter’s nephew, the Daily Beast reports.
The person added, “Things like this need to stop. I believe in people owning guns, but your life has to be in danger first. That man’s life was not in danger. … It was just lucky that her guardian angel had their hand on her, and it wasn’t worse than it was.”
Now, Doyle is booked in the Calcasieu Correctional Center and waiting to see if he receives a bond.
Louisiana is one of 27 states in the country that have “stand your ground” laws.
Louisiana’s law states: “A person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and who is in a place where he or she has a right to be shall have no duty to retreat before using deadly force as provided for in this Section, and may stand his or her ground and meet force with force.”
