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The Kansas City homeowner suspected of shooting black teenager Ralph Yarl is a white man in his 80s, records show.
The man was taken into custody April 13 hours after Ralph was shot twice when he accidentally went to the wrong address to pick up his siblings, the Kansas City Police Department confirmed. The independent.
He was released more than two hours later, around 1:24 a.m. the next morning, police said.
Police confirmed to CNN that the man in custody was a white man in his 80s.
the independent reviewed property records for the home identified by local media as the location of the shooting, which showed an 84-year-old man as the owner.
the independent is not naming the man as he has not yet been charged with a crime.
Kansas City police have said 16-year-old Ralph was shot twice after mistakenly ringing the doorbell of a house in the 1100 block of Northeast 115th Street around 10 p.m. last Thursday.
This undated photo provided by Ben Crump Law shows Ralph Yarl, the teenager shot by a homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri.
(Ben Crump Law via AP)
Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference Sunday that the homeowner has been released after being detained for a 24-hour investigation.
Investigators are reviewing forensic information and witness accounts, he said.
The shooting occurred after the teen got confused about the address he was supposed to pick up his siblings from and went to a home on 115th Street by mistake, police said.
It left Ralph fighting for his life in the hospital and has sparked widespread anger and protests calling for the homeowner to face prosecution.
“He didn’t have his phone. By mistake he went to the wrong house, one block from the house where his brothers were. He pulled up in the driveway and rang the doorbell,” according to an account posted by one of Ralph’s relatives on a GoFundme page.
“The man of the house opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground and the man shot him again.”
The GoFundme page created to raise money to help with his recovery surpassed $1.2 million in donations in less than 24 hours.