Family of Teen Shot for Ringing Wrong Doorbell Refute Cops’ Claims

Kansas City police are not being honest about why they haven’t arrested a white homeowner who shot a Black teenager in the head after the 16-year-old honors student accidentally rang the wrong doorbell, according to a family representative.

Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing Ralph Yarl’s family, said in a social media post on Monday that Ralph gave a bedside interview to investigators while hospitalized on Friday, directly contradicting a narrative offered by police that no arrest had yet been made because cops had thus far been unable to take a victim statement. Merritt also said the alleged shooter—who is married and in his 80s, according to public records associated with the address of the shooting—was detained for two hours, not 24 hours, as KCPD Chief Stacey Graves said previously.

“I cannot say for certain why the appropriate arrest hasn’t been made by law enforcement,” Merritt said. “I can say with absolute certainty the excuses being offered are not true.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.