Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas discussed the shooting of Ralph Yarl on Tuesday, sharing that the people of his city “care about Ralph” and want him to feel he’s supported as he recovers.
Yarl, 16, is out of the hospital and back home recovering after he was shot by Andrew Lester, 84, who turned himself over to authorities on Tuesday.
Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson spoke at a news conference on Tuesday, saying that the incident, which saw Lester shoot Yarl twice on Thursday night at his home in Kansas City, had a “racial component.”
Yarl had reportedly knocked on Lester’s door after confusing his address for another. After knocking on the door, Lester fired his weapon at Yarl from inside his home, leaving him seriously injured.
It took five days for Lester to be brought in for the shooting of Yarl, and Lucas shared that when it comes to the process, he wouldn’t shy away from an “after action report” about the process.
Lucase shared that he has been in constant contact with the Kansas City police chief and prosecutors throughout this process to ensure all the right steps are taken.
Lucas also noted that he wants to ensure that firearm incidents like this don’t happen again, and that they understand why Lester felt the need to fire at Yarl from inside his home.
“I will welcome questions, and I think the police department will too, on the time frame and the amount of hours given to questioning,” Lucas said.
Lucas addressed the common rhetoric among high profile shootings where the past of the victim is often brought up. However, this situation is different, as Lucas shared that Yarl has no troubled past but only a bright future ahead of him.
“Ralph sounds like just an exceptional kid,” Lucas said.
What Lucas shared is even more concerning about the shooting is how quickly it turned from a seemingly typical situation of knocking on a door to a life and death situation for Yarl.
“Everyone should be able to, frankly, just be normal. My god, people,” Lucas said. “How many people have knocked on our doors over the years? How many doors have you knocked on? Have you ever gotten it wrong before?”
Out of this tragedy, Lucas said that he feels the city will begin to come together in support of the 16-year-old and come closer as a community.
“You will see people kind of recognizing our differences, which isn’t a bad thing to recognize… but also understanding our similarities,” Lucas said.
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