911 calls: Man shoots at neighbors after basketball rolled into yard

GASTONIA, N.C. — 911 calls to emergency dispatch have been released after a Gastonia resident was accused of firing multiple shots at neighbors in April.

Robert Louis Singletary, 24, of Gastonia, is accused of shooting at his neighbors after a basketball rolled into his yard on April 18 on April Drive, injuring resident William White and his six-year-old daughter.

“You need to send the police out here on April Drive,” a 911 caller told dispatch on the day of the shooting. “That man is shooting out here.”

Neighbors said they didn’t know Singletary’s name but knew his face.

“There’s been police at his house and he has had issues with everyone in the neighborhood,” a resident said.

Detectives said those issues turned dangerous for children playing basketball on April Drive.

“This is the man that just came home and kids were playing on the side of his yard so he started chasing all the kids,” the 911 caller said.

Witnesses told Channel 9 that Singletary fired all the rounds in the gun as people panicked and sprinted for cover.

A woman grabbed a neighbor’s child crying in her driveway, witnesses said.

“He shot like 15 shots, and I got like 20 kids running all over the neighborhood trying to get away from him,” the 911 caller said.

White ran outside to get his children.

He said as he grabbed his 6-year-old daughter, and Singletary focused on them.

One bullet went through his side, and fragments grazed her cheek.

Somehow in the chaos, they got separated and he called 911.

“My daughter -- I got to go get her,” White could be heard on the 911 call.

The calls kept coming in from people concerned about their neighbors, their families, and themselves.

“Everybody’s on the way out there,” the 911 dispatcher said. “I want you to stay inside, stay hidden, OK?”

Fortunately, no one was killed.

However, some residents say everything changed that day, because of one person’s anger over children playing with a ball.

Singletary turned himself into authorities in Tampa, Florida, and was charged with four counts of attempted murder.

He is still behind bars his next court appearance is in August.

Singletary was originally held without bond, but it was reduced to $25,000.

VIDEO: Man suspected in Gaston County shooting extradited from Florida; expected in court Tuesday

Man suspected in Gaston County shooting extradited from Florida; expected in court Tuesday

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