16-year old goes to pick up his siblings; ends up getting shot at the wrong address (33 Viewers)

[DaveXA]

It centers the story as if the kids actions caused what happened- the cause of the shooting is the shooter

I guess people read things differently because I thought it more just telling what happened than any commentary about the why. I mean, even in that article, it was pretty clear that this was something that didn't have to happen and the shooter didn't have any valid reason to pull the trigger.

 

[Optimus Prime]

It centers the story as if the kids actions caused what happened- the cause of the shooting is the shooter

I didn’t read it that way, didn’t feel like it was placing any blame on Yarl

He went to pick up his sibling and accidentally went to the wrong house

Guy pulls a gun on him

Yarl thinks “there’s no way this guy is going to shoot me”

He was wrong

 

[DaveXA]

But Yarl…was wrong a second time

He was, but it's clear that's not what caused the shooter to pull the trigger. He went to the wrong address and then assumed the man answering the door was someone else. But it doesn't say anywhere him being wrong caused the shooting and I don't think it was implied.

 

[Optimus Prime]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge ruled Thursday that the 84-year-old white homeowner who shot a Black teenager after he mistakenly went to the man’s house must stand trial.

Clay County Judge Louis Angles issued the ruling after a dozen witnesses spoke at a preliminary hearing, including Ralph Yarl, the teenager who was shot by Andrew Lester on April 13 when Yarl went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers.

Lester, a retired aircraft mechanic, is charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. He previously pleaded not guilty in the shooting that shocked the country and renewed national debates about gun policies and race in America. His next court date is an arraignment, scheduled for Sept. 20.

Yarl spoke softly as he testified that he was sent to pick up his twin siblings but had no phone — he’d lost it at school. The house he intended to go to was just blocks from his own home, but he had the street wrong.



Yarl said he rang the bell and the wait for someone to answer for what seemed “longer than normal.”

As the inner door opened, Yarl said he reached out to grab the storm door.

“I assume these are my brothers’ friends’ parents,” he said.

Instead, it was Lester, who told him, “Don’t come here ever again,” Yarl recalled. He said he was shot in the head, the impact knocking him to the ground, and was then shot in the arm.…….

White man will stand trial for shooting Black teen Ralph Yarl, who went to wrong house, judge rules

A Missouri judge has ruled that an 84-year-old white man will stand trial for shooting Ralph Yarl, a Black teen who went to the man’s house by mistake.

apnews.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

A Black teenager who was shot by an elderly white man after ringing the wrong doorbell when picking up his siblings has secured a spot on Missouri’s all-state band, less than a year after suffering a traumatic brain injury from the shooting.

Ralph Yarl, who is 17, was shot in the head and arm by Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri, in April last year after going to the wrong house to pick up his twin brothers. The case reignited debate in the US over race and gun violence issues.

Yarl has now been selected to play second chair bass clarinet for Missouri’s all-state band, North Kansas city schools has announced. Yarl, who also plays the saxophone, has previously spoken of how music helped him during his recovery from the shooting. He will perform at the Missouri Music Educators Association annual conference in Lake of the Ozarks this month, according to a North Kansas City Schools Facebook post.……

Ralph Yarl, Black teenager shot by white man, now in Missouri’s all-state band

Yarl was shot in the head and arm last year after he rang the doorbell to the wrong house while trying to pick up his brothers

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

An 86-year-old Kansas City man has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black honor student who was then 16 and rang the man’s doorbell by mistake.

Andrew Lester’s plea on Friday came days before he was supposed to stand trial on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting of the teenaged student. Lester pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as part of a deal with prosecutors that averted the trial.

The charge to which Lester admitted carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison. First-degree assault, meanwhile, carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years, depending on the circumstances.


Yarl showed up on Lester’s doorstep in April 2023 after he mixed up the streets where he was supposed to pick up his twin siblings. Investigators allege that Lester then shot Yarl twice through the house’s front glass door with a .32-caliber revolver.

The wounded Yarl sought help at multiple homes before someone opened the door and agreed to call police. Neighbors found him lying injured in the street with two gunshot wounds to the head and arm.

Lester, a retired aircraft mechanic, maintained he was acting in self-defense as well as out of a reasonable fear for his safety, and he initially entered a plea of not guilty. On Friday, his sentencing was set for 7 March.

The shooting received widespread attention and further ignited discussions about racism and gun violence in the US. Missouri is a “stand your ground” state where people are permitted to use deadly force if they have reasonable belief they are at risk of a violent attack.

Although the bullet reportedly did not enter his brain, Yarl had to undergo neurological surgery after the injuries to his head that were inflicted by Lester.

He has since spoken about the lingering effects, saying his “mind is just foggy” and that he “can’t concentrate” on the things that would have otherwise been easy for him.……

Kansas City man pleads guilty to assault charge in shooting of Ralph Yarl

Andrew Lester pleaded guilty to lesser charge in shooting of Black honor student who mistakenly rang his doorbell

www.theguardian.com