April 17 (UPI) — Kansas City officials promised a full investigation into a teen who was shot after ringing the doorbell of the wrong house last week, sparking outrage and protest in front of the shooter’s home over the weekend.
Ralph Paul Yarl, a Black 16-year-old, was listed in stable condition at a local hospital after being shot in the head and arm after dusk on May 13 civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, who have taken up his case, said Sunday.
The shooter, a White man, was released under Missouri law as police said they lacked a formal statement from the victim, forensic evidence and additional information for a case file, Police Chief Stacey Graves said in a press conference.
“As soon as the case is complete, it will be presented to the Clay County prosecutor for their review,” said Graves.
Graves added that she was “listening” to the community about the release of the shooter and understood their concerns.
The man’s release sparked protests in the city calling for his arrest on Sunday.
“There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect,” Merritt and Crump said.
Yarl’s aunt Faith Spoonmore said at the protest Sunday that her nephew “is alive and he is healing.”
“It is not the story that that individual intended for us to tell. We are telling a story that is different from the stories that you normally hear,” she said.
An initial investigation found the teen mixed up addresses where a parent told him to pick up his siblings and was shot after allegedly ringing the man’s doorbell.
Graves also said that initial information did not indicate that the shooting was racially motivated.
“That’s still an active investigation, but as a chief of police, I do recognize the racial components of this case. I do recognize and understand the community’s concern and the community’s response to this particular incident,” she said.