Protesters took to the streets in Kansas City, Missouri, after a homeowner shot and wounded teenager Ralph Yarl, who had gone to the wrong house to pick up his siblings, according to police.
Yarl, 16, was “shot twice and struck in the head and arm,” according to the family’s attorneys.
Protesters marched while chanting “justice for Ralph” and “Black lives matter,” and holding signs that read, “Ringing a doorbell is not a crime” and “The shooter should do the time,” according to footage from CNN affiliate KMBC.
According to Kansas City Police, officers responded to reports of a shooting on the evening of April 13 and found a teenager who had been shot by a homeowner outside a residence.
According to police, the teen was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition on Sunday.
According to police, the teenager’s parents had asked him to pick up his siblings at an address on 115th Terrace, but he instead went to a home on 115th Street, where he was shot.
Yarl and his family have hired civil rights attorneys S. Lee Merritt and Benjamin Crump.
“Despite the severity of his injuries and the seriousness of his condition, Ralph is alive and recovering,” said the attorneys in a statement.
The unidentified homeowner was taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour hold before being released pending further investigation due to the need to obtain a formal statement from the victim and gather additional forensic evidence, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said in a news conference Sunday.
According to Missouri state law, a person can be held for up to 24 hours for felony investigation before being charged or released, according to Graves at the news conference.
Attorneys for the injured adolescent’s family issued a statement demanding “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.”
When asked if the shooting was racially motivated, the police chief stated, “The information that we have now does not say that it is racially motivated.” The investigation is still ongoing. However, as a police chief, I am aware of the racial aspects of this case.
Graves attempted to reassure the Kansas City community on Sunday that the police department is committed to bringing this case to justice.
“We recognize the frustration this can cause throughout the criminal justice system.” “The women and men of the Kansas City Police Department are working as quickly and thoroughly as we can to ensure that the criminal justice process moves as quickly as all involved and our community deserve,” Graves said.
The prosecutor’s office will conduct a thorough investigation and review, according to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.
“As a parent, I certainly feel for the victim’s mother and the rest of the family.” “My heart goes out to them,” said the mayor.
By Sunday night, a GoFundMe page set up by Faith Spoonmore, who identified herself as Yarl’s aunt, to assist the family in raising funds for medical expenses had received more than $529,000 in donations.
Yarl had been looking forward to graduating from high school and traveling to West Africa before beginning college, where he hopes to major in chemical engineering, according to his aunt’s fundraising page.
Spoonmore wrote that the teen is a section leader in a marching band and is frequently seen with a musical instrument in hand. According to a North Kansas City Schools newsletter from February, Yarl recently earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention for playing the Bass Clarinet.
“Life appears to be very different right now. He is doing well physically, but he has a long road ahead of him mentally and emotionally. “The trauma he must endure and survive is unimaginable,” according to the GoFundMe page.
