A 16-year-old black teenager was shot in the head in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, after showing up at the wrong house to pick up his siblings, his family’s lawyers have said. Politicians and celebrities demand an exemplary sanction. An investigation has been opened.
A new scandal in the United States. When he wanted to pick up his brothers and sisters who were staying with friends, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old teenager, was shot in the head on Thursday, April 13, in Kansas City, Missouri. The teenager is still between life and death, and an investigation has been opened.
According to the first information of the investigation, the parents of the teenager would have asked him to pick up his brothers and sisters in a private residence, in the northeast of the city, at “115th Terrace”. Unfortunately, the teenager went to ‘115th Street’, which was the wrong address, and therefore rang the wrong house. The owner of the premises then allegedly shot him twice, including once in the head, and also hit him.
The teenager here in the middle with his two brothers
According to the victim’s lawyers, the teenager is “alive” but “very seriously injured” and is still in hospital.
A potential racist crime
According to local police chief Stacey Graves, the perpetrator was identified, taken into custody and eventually released due to the need for an official victim impact statement, forensic evidence. -legal and to compile additional information on the unfolding of the facts to build a solid case to present before a judge. For the time being, there is no evidence that the shooter’s motivations were specifically linked to a “racial motive”, but the investigators continue to explore this track.
“We recognize the frustration this can cause throughout the criminal justice process,” Stacey Graves told reporters. “We want the community to know that we are committed to justice in this matter and in each case,” she continued.
This Sunday, a demonstration took place in the streets of Kansas City in tribute to the young teenager. Hundreds of people, including the victim’s family members, gathered to demand the truth, as well as exemplary sanctions against the alleged shooter.
View of protesters
Many signs denounced a racist crime, because of the skin color of Ralph Yarl and the history of violence against blacks regularly present in crimes in the United States.
Politicians and celebrities demand an exemplary sanction
This Monday, the case was taken up in the national media in the United States, attracting the attention of a number of politicians and celebrities who also called for exemplary sanctions against the alleged perpetrator, and denounced “a crime unacceptable and horrible”.
His name is #RalphYarl and I’m sick and tired of this feeling…my heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head… (1/3) pic.twitter.com/4VaZo7EFVE
— Halle Berry (@halleberry) April 17, 2023
“My heart was completely broken when I learned” the fate of this “16-year-old boy, who accidentally rang the doorbell from the wrong address to try to pick up his brothers and sisters”, for example tweeted l actress Halle Berry, calling on the prosecutor to press charges.
“I sent my 17-year-old son to pick up one of his siblings from a friend’s house,” wrote Georgia State Rep. Michelle Au, who is Chinese-American. “Like Ralph, he excels in a youth orchestra. Like Ralph, he is a science student. Like Ralph, he dreams big. I don’t know if my son would get shot for ringing the wrong person’s doorbell.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who is black, meanwhile said he understands the concern expressed by local residents that the victim’s race may have played a role in the shooting. “It is not a possibility that has been dismissed, marginalized or diminished in any way. This is something that has the full attention of the Kansas City Police Department,” he said.
Deadly shootings occur regularly in the United States, a country of approximately 330 million people and replete with approximately 400 million firearms. Ralph Yarl was shot just before four people were killed and at least 28 others, mostly teenagers, injured Saturday night in a shootout at a birthday party in Alabama.
An online fundraiser has been launched for Ralph Yarl and has already raised nearly $100,000.
Togotimes, Real-time information
