An 85-year-old white man who shot a Black teen at his front door in Kansas City, Missouri has been charged with armed assault in a case that has spawned protests and community outrage, the Clay County prosecutor said Monday.
Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference that there was a “racial component” to the incident last Thursday night in which Andrew Lester twice shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is recovering at home after being released Sunday from the hospital. But nothing in the charging documents says the shooting was racially motivated, Thompson clarified.
“We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work,” Thompson said.
Protesters gathered Sunday in Kansas City after a homeowner shot and injured the teen who family members said went to the wrong house.
Yarl, 16, was shot twice and hospitalized in critical condition Thursday, attorneys Ben Crump and S. Lee Merritt, who have been retained by Yarl’s family, said in a statement Sunday.
On Monday, President Joe Biden spoke by phone to Yarl and shared his hope for a swift recovery, the White House reported.
The homeowner was placed on a 24-hour investigative hold and released pending further investigation, Kansas City police chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference Sunday.
“There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his door,” Crump and Merrit said. “We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.”
What happened during the shooting?
Yarl was going to pick up his younger brothers Thursday when he went to the wrong address and rang the doorbell, according to a GoFundMe created by Faith Spoonmore, who identified herself as his aunt. Crump told the Kansas City Star the homeowner shot Yarl in the head and then shot him again after the teenager fell to the ground.
Yarl then ran to three different neighbors’ houses to get help, Spoonmore wrote.
Officers responded to a call that a teen was shot in front of a residence by a homeowner around 10 p.m., Graves said. The teenager was hospitalized, the homeowner was taken into custody and a firearm was found, she said. Graves did not identify the teenager or the homeowner.
Officials said Yarl was stable but had a life-threatening injury. Police would not confirm the number of times he was shot.
“Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally,” Spoonmore wrote.
Why was the homeowner released?
Graves said the homeowner was released after police consulted with the Clay County prosecutor’s office to gather additional information including a formal statement from the victim and forensic evidence. She said police have not been able to get a statement from Yarl because of his injuries.
Under Missouri law, a person must be charged or released after 24 hours, and suspects are released while police investigate further in the vast majority of cases including violent crimes, she said.
“We recognize the frustration this can cause and the entire criminal justice process,” Graves said. “The women and men of the Kansas City Police Department are working as expeditiously and as thoroughly as we can to ensure the criminal justice process continues to advance as quickly as all involved and our community deserve.”
Was the shooting racially motivated?
Police did not initially confirm the shooter’s race, but Crump and Merritt said he was white. When asked if the shooting was racially motivated, Graves said “the information that we have now, it does not say that that is racially motivated.”
“That’s still an active investigation,” she said. “But as a chief of police, I do recognize the racial components of this case.”
Mayor Quinton Lucas said some members of the police department attended protests Sunday to listen to the community’s concerns about the shooting.
“This is not something that has been dismissed, marginalized or diminished in any way,” he said. “This is something that is getting the full attention of the Kansas City Police Department.”
Graves said the case could potentially involve the “Stand Your Ground” law, the legal standard for using deadly force in self-defense.
Attorney, community demand justice
Demonstrators marched Sunday to the house where Yarl was shot demanding justice for the teenager, localmediareported. Crump told the Star the homeowner’s actions were “outrageous.”
“You can’t just shoot people without having justification when somebody comes knocking on your door and knocking on your door is not justification,” Crump said. “This guy should be charged.”
