The 84-year-old homeowner in Kansas City was accused of shooting a teen through a glass door

A probable cause document states that homeowner Andrew Lester shot and killed a black man in order to escape from the home of a wounded teen

According to the probable cause document released by the Clay County Prosecuting Attorney, Andrew Lester told police the night of the shooting that he was afraid to death because he was too large.

When he heard the doorbell ring, he had just lain down on his bed. Lester told police he got up, picked up his Smith and Wesson .32-caliber revolver and went to the front door, where both the interior door and the storm door were locked, the document reads.

The document says that he saw a black male pull at the storm door when he opened the interior door. He told the police he thought he was trying to break into the house and shot twice in the air when he opened the door. He then called 911, the document reads.

Police spoke with Ralph on Friday while he was being treated at Children’s Mercy Hospital for an informal interview, the document reads. According to a document, police were told by his mother that he should pick up his brothers at 1100 NE 115th Street instead of 1100 NE 115th Terrace.

The document says that the man said “Don’t come around here” when he heard the man say “Don’t come around here.” He went to a number of nearby homes and asked people to call the police.

The 84-year-old homeowner is charged with shooting Yarl through a locked glass door, because he thought the teen was going to shoot him.

A probable cause document obtained by CNN shows that the homeowner told police that he fired after he saw the teen pull on the door handle.

A black man who rang his doorbell and shot a white teenager: “You don’t wanna shoot me, but I can tell you that I am a mother,” Thompson told CNN

He was out of the hospital, but not out of the woods, as his attorney told CNN on Monday.

The shooting of the unarmed Black teenager captured national attention as it drew outrage online and fueled protests in Kansas City. Protesters are calling for justice and the arrest of the shooter.

On the night of the shooting, the 84-year-old man was taken into custody but was released less than two hours later, two representatives at the Kansas City Police Department detention unit previously told CNN. Thompson said Lester was released because police recognized that more investigative work needed to be done.

“Nobody can tell us if the roles were reversed, and you had a Black man shoot a White 16-year-old teenager for merely ringing his doorbell that he would not be arrested,” Crump said. After shooting a young black kid, this citizen went to sleep in his bed.

He just rang the doorbell. That was it,” Crump said. The owner of the home shoots him through the door, hitting him in the head and then shooting him again.

He stated he shot someone who was trying to break into the house, within a few seconds of opening the door.

Officers responded to the scene just before 10 p.m. after receiving reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found the boy wounded in the street.

The front storm door glass was broken and blood was found on the porch and driveway, according to the probable cause document.

She was told to stay inside her home by the emergency operator because the location of the shooter remained unknown at the time. She said she complied initially, then went outside with towels to help suppress the bleeding.

“This is somebody’s child. I had to clean blood off of my door, off of my railing. That was someone’s child’s blood. She said that she is a mother and this is not ok.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/18/us/kansas-city-ralph-yarl-shooting-tuesday/index.html

The Stand Your Ground Law and the Case Against Yarl, aka Grandpa, in the Stand Your Ground: An Application to the Missouri Detention of a Bandleader

Ralph, a section leader in a marching band who could often be found with an instrument in hand, had been looking forward to graduating from high school and visiting West Africa before starting college, according to a GoFundMe started by Ralph’s aunt, Faith Spoonmore.

Life looks different at the moment. Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally. The aunt wrote that the trauma that he has to endure is unimaginable.

Because of the stand your ground law, we still fight to say that you can not profile and shoot our children. “Unacceptable.”

“Stand your ground” laws allow people to respond to threats or force without fear of criminal prosecution in any place where a person has the right to be. It remains unclear whether this will play a role in Lester’s case.

The stand your ground action, which is legal in Missouri, is not applicable because there has been no discussion between the suspect and the victim or law enforcement about how Yarl posed a danger to this.