The investigation into the shooting by a Kansas City homeowner of Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers includes questions about whether it was racially motivated. Police are quickly preparing evidence for prosecutors in Thursday’s shooting, Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday, the Associated Press reports. .The 16-year-old victim was hospitalized Thursday night after he was shot while trying to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friend’s house. Yarl was in stable condition but had a life-threatening injury.
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Police have not identified the shooter, though civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the shooter appears to be white. Investigators will consider whether the suspect was protected by “Stand Your Ground” laws, Graves said. Yarl was meant to pick up his brothers from a friend’s house on 115th Terrace. He ended up ringing the doorbell at a home on 115th Street instead. A man opened the door, saw Yarl and shot him in the head. When Yarl fell to the ground, the man shot him again. Yarl got up and ran from the property, but he had to ask at three different homes before someone helped him.Mayor Quinton Lucas said police understand the community’s concern that the shooting could be racially motivated. “This is not something that has been dismissed, marginalized or diminished in any way. This is something that is getting the full attention of the Kansas City Police Department,” Lucas said.