Man shoots at kids playing hide and seek outside his home, hitting 14-year-old girl: sheriff

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Booking photo provided by Calcasieu Parish Sheriffs Office shows David Doyle. (Calcasieu Parish Sheriffs Office)

STARKS, La. (AP) - A Louisiana man has been charged with aggravated assault and battery after shooting at children who had been playing hide and seek outside his home, striking a 14-year-old girl, officials said.

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.

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

David Doyle, 58, 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.

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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. It's not known whether Doyle has an attorney to speak on his behalf.