A Black teen who survived a shooting earlier this year after he knocked on the wrong door has opened up about his attacker’s chilling warning just moments before the violence unfolded.
On the evening of 13 April, Ralph Yarl, then 16, mistakenly drove into the driveway of 84-year-old Andrew Lester’s home in Kansas City, Missouri. The teen had meant to pick up his twin brothers from a friend’s house that was actually a block away, but before he could explain the misunderstanding, Mr Yarl was shot in his head and arm.
“I see this old man and I’m saying, ‘Oh, this must be like, the grandpa [of my brother’s friend],’” Mr Yarl, now 17, said in an exclusive interview with ABC’s Good Morning America that aired on Tuesday. “And then he pulls out his gun. And I’m like, ‘Whoa!’ So I backed up. He points it at me.”
Mr Yarl said he braced for the attack but didn’t think the man behind the door would open fire on him. Before Mr Yarl could process the threat in front of him, he found himself lying on a bed of shattered glass and profusely bleeding from his head.
“He only said five words, ‘Don’t come here ever again,’” Mr Yarl said Mr Lester told him right before the shooting. “... As far as I know, I didn’t know their family at all. I hadn’t even seen their friends or their parents before so [I thought] that this was their house.”
Disoriented and desperate to get to safety, Mr Yarl ran out of the driveway pleading with neighbours to help him.
”Before I know it, ‘I’m running away and shouting, ‘Help me, help me!’” Mr Yarl recounted.
The teen was transported to a hospital, where he received treatment for the two gunshot wounds he sustained.
His mother Cleo Nagbe, who became concerned after a long time passed without hearing from her son, was later called by law enforcement.
“I was worried already that maybe he had gotten a flat tire or something and then I got a call from a strange number and it was the police,” Ms Nagbe also told GMA. “The [doctors] didn’t have to tell me anything. He was alert when I got there but it wasn’t a pleasant sight. It was traumatising.”
More than two months later, Mr Yarl is still reeling from the aftermath of the shooting and how it has impacted his life.
“There are a lot of things that are going on inside my head that aren’t normal. I’ve been having headaches, trouble sleeping and sometimes my mind is just foggy ... like I can’t concentrate on things that would be easy for me,” Mr Yarl told GMA.
Ralph Yarl, then 16, was shot twice after he mistakenly drove into the driveway of 84-year-old Andrew Lester’s home in Kansas City, Missouri— (AP)
Mr Lester has pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting.
Mr Lester has admitted that he shot Mr Yarl through the door without warning because he was “scared to death” that he was about to be robbed by a Black person standing at his door. He remains free after posting 10 per cent of his $200,000 bond.
The shooting drew international attention amid claims that Mr Lester received preferential treatment from investigators after he shot Mr Yarl. President Joe Biden and several celebrities issued statements calling for justice, while Mr Yarl’s attorney, Lee Merritt, has called for the shooting to be investigated as a hate crime.
“Unfortunately, race is a major factor in who gets justice and who doesn’t and in cases where there is a white man and a Black child,” Mr Merritt told GMA.
Mr Yarl is now receiving therapy to cope with the emotional trauma he endured.
Andrew Lester pleaded not guilty in first court appearance over shooting of Ralph Yarl— (KMBC)
“I’m just a kid and not larger than life because this happened to me,” Mr Yarl said. “I’m just going to keep doing all the stuff that makes me happy. And just living my life the best I can, and not let this bother me.”
Asked about what justice he expects the system ultimately delivers, Mr Yarl said that he hopes his shooter is convicted.
“[He] should be convicted for the crimes that he made,” Mr Yarl said. “I am past having any personal hatred for him.”
