Robert Louis Singletary, 24, has been charged with four counts of first-degree attempted murder after he shot the child when her ball rolled into his yard.

Police in Gastonia have also charged him with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, with intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Singletary was known to police, having been arrested and charged after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend with a mini sledgehammer and preventing her from seeking aid in December 2022.

Witnesses told local media that Singletary was notorious for shouting at children in the neighbourhood.

"They were playing basketball, and a ball rolled into his yard. They went to go and get it. It was just crazy," Jonathan Robertson told local news station WBTV.

"We just never expected it in a million years. We never expected anybody would break a gun out amongst all those kids. I mean that was insane."

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The unnamed child told WBTV that "the bullet came back and the bullet went in my cheek.

"I couldn't get inside in time so he just... he shot my daddy in the back."

Police said that Singletary is armed and dangerous, and should not be approached by members of the public.

The shooting comes amid renewed concern in the US about gun violence towards unsuspecting victims.

Last week, a 16-year-old black boy in Missouri was shot twice by an 84-year-old white homeowner who thought Ralph Yarl was trying to break in to his house.

Kaylin Gillis, 20, was shot and killed when the car she and her friends were driving in made a wrong turn while looking for a friend's house in New York state on Saturday.

And two high school students were shot during an incident in a supermarket car park in Texas on Monday when they accidentally attempted to get into a car that wasn't their own.

A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in deadly conduct.