Police: Snowball fight led to girl's shooting
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Joseph Best in a police photo.
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A man whose daughter was hit with a snowball by a group of girls returned to the scene and opened fire with a gun, critically wounding a 10-year-old youngster, police said.
Joseph Best, 32, was arrested Monday and jailed on charges including attempted murder.
The victim was in critical condition with a head wound.
Best's daughter was hit with a snowball as she and her friends walked past a group of girls having a "friendly snowball fight" Sunday, police Capt. Charles Bloom said.
A scuffle then broke out among the dozen or so girls, who ranged in age from 10 to 15. The groups soon parted ways, but Best returned with an older daughter and another brawl erupted, this time between adult relatives of both groups, Bloom said.
Police broke up that fight, but said Best came back again hours later, leaned out the passenger side of a moving car and fired at least five shots into the group of children still playing on the street. Authorities were trying to determine who was driving.
Police said the girl who was shot had been inside during the scuffles.
"This little girl had nothing to do with anything. She wasn't involved in the fight," Bloom said. "He just seemed to be randomly shooting into the crowd."
It could not be immediately determined Wednesday if Best had a lawyer.
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