Demonstrators stormed the home of a White man in Kansas City, Missouri, who shot and seriously wounded a Black teenager who went to the wrong house to pick up his twin brothers.

The gunman shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in the head and arm. Yarl was found near the yard of the mistaken house by a neighbor, James Lynch, a father of three, who heard Yarl screaming “Help, help. I’ve been shot,” and rushed from his house to assist him. Yarl had run to three different homes, seeking help before he collapsed

Lynch found Yarl motionless and bloodied in the yard and feared he was dead. Another neighbor arrived with clean towels for Yarl’s wounds, and they waited with young Yarl until the paramedics arrived.

Police later arrested the shooter, who was identified as Andrew Lester, 85. He has been charged with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Both are felonies.

At first, police refused to identify the shooter and released him after 24 hours, the police said. 

The shooting took on Thursday around 10 p.m. when Yarl knocked on the wrong door on 115th Street in Kansas City instead of 115th Terrance.

The homeowner shot Yarl in the head, and as he fell to the ground, he shot him in the arm. The shooter fired through a door with a 32-caliber gun. After receiving medical care, Yarl was shown in a photo from the hospital with his head and one arm bandaged.

Zachary Thompson, the prosecuting attorney for Clay County, said, “At this point, we have not received a criminal referral from the Kansas City Police Department regarding this case.†Yarl was released from the hospital today. Yarl’s father said his son would take three to six months to recover. 

The Yarl family has retained civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump to represent their son. Crump is critical of the fact that Kansas City, Missouri, police released Lester after not charging him. Crump believes the shooter is dangerous and should not have been released from custody.

This is very similar to an incident that occurred in Pontiac, Michigan.

On April 16, 2018, a White gunman, heard his wife, Dana screaming “Why are you trying to break into my house.†Jeffrey Zeigler pulled out a rifle and fired several shots at Brennan Walker who was 14 at the time. Walker ran and was not injured. Zeigler was sentenced to five years in prison. A retired fire firefighter, in Michigan, wants to take his pension.

Zeigler was recently granted parole. 

“He never admitted to what he did in the trial court, in the appeal court, in a letter, nothing,” said Lisa Wright, Brennan’s mother. “He has not shown remorse, he is still going with the story that he slipped and fell.”

Walker knocked on Zeigler’s door to get directions to Rochester High School. He became lost after missing his school bus, and he was seeking directions to find his school.