Ralph Yarl, Black teen shot after doorbell mix-up, shares his story on ‘Good Morning America’

"I hear the door open. I see this old man and I'm assuming, oh, this is -- this must there be like their grandpa. And then he pulls out his gun. So I like back up. He points it at me, so I kind of like brace and I turn my head. Before that, I'm thinking there's no way he's actually gonna shoot, right? The door isn't even open. He's gonna shoot through his glass door and glass is gonna get everywhere. Then it happened."

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FILE - Dried eggs stains run down the front door, Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at the house where 84-year-old Andrew Lester shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl a week earlier in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
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Ralph Yarl, a teenager who was shot after ringing the wrong doorbell in Kansas City, spoke out for the first time on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“I’ve been having headaches, trouble with sleep, and sometimes my mind is just foggy,” Yarl said.

The 16-year-old was shot by an 84-year-old white man, Andrew Lester, who’s now facing two felony charges.

Yarl went on to talk about that day when he thought he went to the right home to pick up his brother.

“I hear the door open. I see this old man and I’m assuming, oh, this is — this must there be like their grandpa. And then he pulls out his gun. So I like back up. He points it at me, so I kind of like brace and I turn my head. Before that, I’m thinking there’s no way he’s actually gonna shoot, right? The door isn’t even open. He’s gonna shoot through his glass door and glass is gonna get everywhere. Then it happened.”

Yarl’s mother added that her son has moved past feelings of hatred for Lester but wants him to face consequences.


Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

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