Protesters marched in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday near the house where a black teenager was shot by an elderly white resident of the house who has since been charged with two crimes.
Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot on Thursday. He was released from the hospital on Sunday, according to CNN.
Police said that Yarl had been asked to pick up a sibling at an address on 115th Terrace, but Yarl went to 115th Street instead.
Civil rights attorneys S. Lee Merritt and Benjamin Crump, who have been retained by the victim and his family noted that the teen was recovering, according to The New York Times.
âDespite the severity of his injuries and the seriousness of his condition, Ralph is alive and recovering,â the attorneys said in the statement.
Yarlâs aunt, Faith Spoonmore, said Yarl went to three houses seeking to call for an ambulance after he was shot, The Times reported.
The homeowner, Andrew Lester, was initially taken into custody and later released pending further investigation, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Lester, 84, will be charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. A warrant has been issued for Lesterâs arrest. He is not in custody, Clay County attorney Zachary Thompson said Monday evening, according to CNN.
âI can tell you there was a racial component to this case,â Thompson said.
He said there is no indication either the shooter or victim spoke. Thompson said Yarl did not ever enter the house, and Lester allegedly fired through a glass door with a .32 caliber revolver, Thompson said.
Yarl was âshot twice and struck in the head and arm,â his familyâs attorneys said in a statement.
Like the protesters marching Sunday, Crump has called the incident racially motivated.
âWe have been informed by his family that it was a white man who shot their 16-year-old son,â Crump said.
âIt is inescapable not to observe the racial dynamics here,â Crump said. âIf the roles were reversed, how much outraged would there be in America?â
Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, who is black, said he was âheartbroken and angry about the situation that we find ourselves in,â according to The New York Times.
âYouâve heard about driving while black. Youâve heard about all the other issues that black people confront in life. Can you not knock on the door while black? Itâs almost like you canât exist,â he said.
Lucas said that even though Missouri has a Stand Your Ground law, it should not apply to Yarlâs case.
âIf Stand Your Ground really lets somebody just shoot somebody that rings a doorbell, that put the life of every postal worker, every campaigner, every Amazon delivery person at risk in this country,â he said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
