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The White House has extended an invitation to a wounded Black US teen who rang the wrong doorbell and was shot twice, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday as the alleged shooter, an elderly White man, turned himself to the police.
Last Thursday night in Missouri, a midwestern state, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot twice, once in the head, after trying to pick up his twin brothers at the wrong address.
The incident, according to Biden, is yet another illustration of how the US has failed to address the problem of pervasive gun violence.
No parent should be concerned that their child will be shot for ringing the wrong doorbell, says the author. We must continue the fight against gun violence, Biden wrote in a tweet, adding that he had spoken to Yarl and his family the previous evening.
The president continued, “And Ralph, we’ll see you in the Oval once you feel better.”
According to the local prosecutor Zachary Thompson, the alleged shooter, 84-year-old Andrew Lester, was charged on Monday with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
A spokesperson for the Clay County sheriff’s office told AFP that Lester turned himself in on Tuesday.
Lester claimed in court documents that he shot the teen through the glass storm door because he believed the boy was attempting to break into his home.
A $200,000 bond was set.
After it was revealed that Lester had initially been released without being charged after spending 24 hours in custody, outrage over the case continued to grow throughout the weekend.
Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, told CNN on Tuesday that to deny the role race has played in this situation would be to bury one’s head in the sand.
“This boy was killed because he was black and he was existing.”
Yarl was discharged from the hospital and is now recuperating at home, according to his mother Cleo Nagbe, who spoke to CBS on Tuesday.
He went to the door and rang the bell. He was to remain outside, while his brothers were to dash outside, get in the car, and drive home, according to Nagbe.
“While he was standing there, his brothers didn’t run outside, but he got a few bullets in his body instead of a couple of twins coming up, out, and giving him a hug.”
400,000,000 weapons
On a GoFundMe page, Yarl’s aunt, Faith Spoonmoore, claimed that her nephew was a talented student who had aspirations of majoring in chemical engineering. By Tuesday afternoon, Yarl had raised almost $3 million from the fundraiser.
In the United States, a nation of about 330 million people with an estimated 400 million guns, deadly shootings occur frequently.
But because of the nation’s ongoing struggle with a long history of impunity for violence against African Americans, Yarl’s case has drawn particular attention.
At a press conference on Sunday night, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves stated that the investigation was still ongoing even though the information at the time “does not say that it’s racially motivated.”
But I am aware of the racial aspects of this case as the police chief. I do acknowledge and comprehend the community’s worry.
Charges were also brought on Monday in a similar shooting death involving a 20-year-old woman that occurred in the state of New York.
When Kaylin Gillis and three other people arrived at the incorrect address while looking for a friend’s house on Saturday night, according to police in the state of New York, the homeowner shot and killed her.
Having realized they were at the wrong house, the subject “came out on his porch for whatever reason and fired two shots, one of which struck the vehicle that Kaylin was in,” according to Jeffrey Murphy, the sheriff of Washington County, where the shooting occurred.
Kevin Monahan, a 65-year-old homeowner who was identified as the shooter, was detained on Monday and charged with second-degree murder, the sheriff’s office reported.
