Sheriff: Louisiana man shot child playing hide and seek

STARKS, La. (AP) — A Louisiana man faces aggravated assault and battery charges after firing a gun at children who were playing hide and seek outside his home, wounding a 14-year-old girl, according to the local sheriff’s office.

The girl suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head early Sunday, and was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted on social media Monday.

David Doyle, 58, remained in the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center on Tuesday morning. Jail records show Doyle’s bond was set at $300,000 and that he has been assigned a public defender, according to a jail staffer.

Neither an attorney at the public defender’s office in Calcasieu Parish, nor the local district attorney immediately returned phone calls seeking more information.

Investigators learned that several children were playing hide and seek in the Starks community and were hiding on the neighbor’s property.

Doyle told detectives that he got his gun when he saw shadows outside his home and shot at people he saw running away, unknowingly hitting the girl, officials said.

It’s the latest in a series of recent shootings sparked by seemingly trivial circumstances.

Doyle was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and illegal discharge of a firearm, the sheriff’s office said.