Ralph Yarl shooting: Homeowner accused of shooting teenager surrenders to police
Rachel Schilke
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An 84-year-old Kansas City man accused of shooting a black teenager who mistakenly showed up at his home to pick up his siblings surrendered to police on Tuesday.
Andrew Lester has been charged with assault in the first degree, a felony that carries up to a life sentence. Lester was also charged with armed criminal action, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
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A warrant was issued for Lester’s arrest when his charges were announced on Monday. His bail is set at $200,000.
“Andrew Lester, charged in the shooting of Ralph Yarl, has surrendered at our Detention Center and is in custody,” the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement via NBC News. “He is in the booking process right now.”
Lester is accused of shooting the 16-year-old when the teenager arrived at Lester’s home by mistake. Yarl was supposed to pick up his siblings from 115th Terrace. Instead, he went to 115th Street, where Lester lived.
Lester reportedly answered the door when Yarl knocked or rang the doorbell. He then allegedly shot Yarl once in the head and shot him again after he fell onto the ground. Lester shot Yarl just above the left eye and in the upper right arm.
“There was a racial component to the case,” Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said on Monday, reinforcing speculation that had been circulating within Yarl’s family and in the community.
Lester allegedly used a .32-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver to shoot Yarl through a glass door, according to a probable cause statement by police.
The elderly man told police he saw a black male he didn’t know pulling on the exterior storm door handle and that he thought his home was being broken into. Yarl did not cross the threshold of Lester’s home.
Lester “stated it was the last thing he wanted to do, but he was ‘scared to death,’” police wrote.
At the hospital, Yarl told police that he did not pull on the door. He said he was waiting at the door after ringing the bell when a man opened the door holding a firearm, per the probable cause document.
Yarl told police that after he was shot and fell to the ground, he ran away. He said he heard a voice say, “Don’t come around here,” according to officers.
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The 16-year-old was released from the hospital on Sunday after undergoing surgery over the weekend. He is a high school junior in Kansas City, Missouri, and a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympiad team. He’s also a section leader in the marching band.
Yarl’s family said he is “one of the top bass clarinet players in Missouri.”