85-year-old man charged with shooting black teen at his doorstep

An 85-year-old white man, identified as Andrew Lester, has been charged with felony assault and armed criminal action after he allegedly shot Ralph Paul Yarl, a 16-year-old Black teenager who mistakenly rang his doorbell in Missouri.

Yarl was critically injured after being shot twice, once in the head, when he rang the wrong house’s doorbell while trying to pick up his twin brothers from a friend’s nearby home.

Outrage grew over the weekend after Lester was released without charges following 24 hours in custody. Yarl’s case has generated significant public outcry in the United States, as the country continues to grapple with a long history of violence against African Americans.

Deadly shootings are common in the US, a country estimated to have 400 million guns in circulation.

The White House has announced that President Joe Biden has spoken with Yarl and hopes for his swift recovery.

While police have not yet determined if the shooting was racially motivated, the case has raised concerns over the racial components of the incident.

Charges were also filed in a similar case in New York State where a 20-year-old woman was fatally shot by a homeowner on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, four people were killed, and at least 28 others, mostly teenagers, were wounded in a shooting at a birthday party in Alabama.