According to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana, a 14-year-old girl was shot in the back of the head by a neighbor after playing hide-and-seek on his property. The incident occurred early Sunday morning in Starks, which is situated near the Louisiana-Texas border. Several children were playing hide-and-seek in the area and had hidden on a neighbor’s property when the shooting took place.
The property owner, 58-year-old David Doyle, reportedly saw “shadows outside his home” and went to retrieve his gun, according to the sheriff’s office. Upon returning outside, Doyle saw “people running away from his property,” and he began shooting at them, unknowingly hitting the young girl.
As a result of the shooting, the girl was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Following the incident, Doyle was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and illegal discharge of a firearm.
This tragic event is just one of many similar incidents that have occurred in recent times, where seemingly ordinary mistakes have led to shootings. For instance, in the previous month, two Texas cheerleaders were shot after accidentally getting into the wrong car in a parking lot, and a young woman was shot and killed in rural upstate New York when the vehicle she was in mistakenly pulled into the wrong driveway. Such incidents serve as a reminder of the importance of exercising caution and ensuring that firearms are not used recklessly.
