A Louisiana man has been charged after shooting a teenage girl in the back of the head while she was playing hide-and-seek in his backyard.
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Louisiana Man Charged After Shooting Girl In Back Of Head While Playing Hide-And-Seek In His Backyard
It is reported that on Sunday (May 7), 58-year-old David Van Doyle was at his home in the small town of Lake Charles, Louisiana, near the Texas state line, when he fired his weapon at a 14-year-old girl.
Officials with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said that during the “early morning hours” there was a group of juveniles “playing hide and seek in the area, and [they] were hiding on the neighbor’s property.”
It is noted that the small neighborhood where the shooting place, called Lake Charles, “is a dead-end road with only three residents: Doyle, the victim’s family, and a relative to the victim’s family.”
After the shooting, deputies were called to the tiny neighborhood for reports of gunfire and a victim. Upon their arrival, deputies found the wounded teenage girl at the scene, and called for detectives.
The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies soon learned that several children had been playing in the surrounding area, and had hid on the neighbor’s property.
It is also noted that one of the children playing alongside the girl, was Doyle’s own nephew, who was there when she was shot.
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Upon interrogating Doyle, he told deputies that he had “unknowingly” hit the girl after opening fire on a group of people that he caught running away from his home — which he later learned were just a bunch of kids playing hide-and-seek.
According to officials with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, “When detectives spoke with the property owner, David V. Doyle, 58, [of] Starks, [Louisiana], he stated he observed shadows outside his home, at which time he went inside and retrieved his firearm.”
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After Doyle opened fire at the people running away from his home, and police arrived, the girl was rushed to a hospital out of town. Authorities say she had non-life-threatening injuries. Since the incident, family members of the teenager updated that she was “okay and recovering.”
Meanwhile, a friend of the family 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.”
Following the shooting, Doyle was arrested and booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center at 6:45 a.m. He was subsequently charged with aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and illegal discharge of a firearm. As of Tuesday afternoon (May 9), Doyle was still in police custody.
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