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20-04-2023
WASHINGTON/ MISSOURI: An 84-year-old man from Missouri has surrendered to authorities following accusations that he shot a black teenager who mistakenly rang his doorbell.
Andrew Lester was arrested on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action after he allegedly shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl once in the head and once in the arm.
Biden slammed the incident as another example of the United States´ failure to deal with widespread gun violence.
“No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell. We’ve got to keep up the fight against gun violence,” Biden tweeted, saying he’d spoken with Yarl and his family the night before “and Ralph, we’ll see you in the Oval once you feel better,” the president added.
The incident occurred last Thursday night, and the teenager survived the attack. Lester was released on bail after posting 10% of the $200,000 bail amount.
Lester is a white man, and there is a racial component to the shooting, according to prosecutors. However, he has not been charged with a hate crime, and the charging documents do not describe the alleged racial bias. Lester will remain at the Clay County Detention Center until his arraignment or until he posts a bond, according to the sheriff’s office.
On the night of the incident, Ralph Yarl had mistakenly approached Lester’s home in Kansas City, Missouri, to pick up his younger twin brothers. He drove to Northeast 115 Street instead of Northeast 115th Terrace, which is only one block away. After ringing the doorbell, Lester allegedly shot the teenager twice, once in the forehead and once in the arm, without exchanging any words.
Lester has not denied shooting the boy, but he has stated that he believed he was protecting himself from a confrontation. Prosecutors have said that Ralph did not cross the threshold of Lester’s home. Initially, police detained Lester for questioning but released him without charges, leading to protests throughout Kansas City on Sunday.
On Monday, prosecutor Zachary Thompson announced that Lester had been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Meanwhile, Ralph Yarl has returned home from the hospital, surrounded by a team of medical professionals, according to his mother, Cleo Nagbe, who spoke to CBS News on Tuesday. Despite being shot in the head, Ralph is expected to make a full recovery, stunning his doctors, who had no idea how he survived.
Relatives of the teenager have set up a GoFundMe account to pay for Ralph’s medical recovery. As of Tuesday, the account has raised more than $2.7m (£2.1m). (Int’l News Desk)
