A young Black teenager got shot in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell.
The New York Post reports that Ralph Yarl, 16, was attempting to pick up his siblings from a house in Kansas City, Missouri, according to local law enforcement. The teenager meant to go to the address of NE 115th Terrace. However, he went to NE 115th Street and met with gunshots at the door. Yarls family members described him as one of [the] top base clarinet players in Missouri. He sustained life-threatening injuries from the gunshots and received treatment at a local hospital. The Post reports that he was still at the hospital and recovering as of Sunday night.
The homeowner that fired the gun was taken into custody and released within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the teens aunt, Faith Spoonmore, created a GoFundMe page that detailed the entire event and asked for money from the public to help pay for Yarls medical expenses. So far, the page has raised more than $900,000 from public funding. Spoonmore wrote:
He mistakenly went to the wrong house, one block away from [the] house where his siblings were. He pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell.
She followed that up by saying:
The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again. Ralph [was then] able to get up and run to the neighbors house, looking for help.
She said that Ralph had to run to three [different] houses looking for help after he [was] shot before someone finally assisted. Even then, he [was] told to lay on the ground with his hands up. Ralph has always been a talented musician and is a member of his schools Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. He plays jazz music, according to Spoonmore. He aspires to attend Texas A&M University to study chemical engineering, according to the GoFundMe page set up by his family.
Spoonmore noted:
When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said that the Clay County Prosecutors Office would take over the case as the evidence-gathering process continues. Graves says that she recognizes that this might cause some frustration for the public but is part of the process of finding justice.
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