A 16-year-old black teenager named Ralph Yarl was shot after knocking on the door of the wrong house in Kansas City, Missouri. The shooter is an 84-year-old white man named Andrew Lester. Yarl was shot once in the head and then again in the arm.
Lester says that he felt threatened because of the size of Yarl and that he would have no way to defend himself if he was to enter his home. The problem with Lester’s explanation is that he shot through his front door and screen door at Yarl, which is a clear violation of any known gun law and/or castle doctrine law on the books in the United States. Ralph Yarl was, of course, unarmed and simply at the wrong house attempting to pick up his siblings.
The case has garnered national attention, of course, due to the racial element. Other cases, such as the 28 shot and 4 dead in Alabama, are not getting as much attention due to the lack of a racial element because everyone involved was presumably black.
SOURCES:
Ralph Yarl Case: 84-Year-Old Is Charged in Shooting of Black Teenager – The New York Times
Ralph Yarl shooting: The aunt of a Black teen who rang the wrong doorbell and was shot by a White homeowner reacts to charges | CNN
Ralph Yarl shooting: Gunman Andrew D. Lester has been charged : NPR
Man charged with two felonies in shooting of Ralph Yarl
‘Racial component’ in shooting of Ralph Yarl, who went to wrong house: Prosecutor | AP News
