An arrest warrant has been issued for the man accused of shooting a Black teenager in the head in Kansas City.
Andrew Lester, 85, is accused of shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who reportedly went to the wrong house by accident when trying to collect his younger brothers last week.
Police said on Monday that Lester had been initially arrested, and had his weapon seized, then was released pending further investigation.
“The vast majority of cases including violent crime involve the suspect being released, pending further investigation. In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators that would take more than 24 hours to compile,” police chief Stacey Graves said.
“We recognise the frustration this can cause in the entire criminal justice process.”
Missouri law allows a person to be held for up to 24 hours for a felony investigation. At that point, the person must be released or arrested and formally charged.
Zachary Thompson, a lawyer for the victim, said there was a “racial component” to the shooting, but did not offer any more details on possible motives during a news conference, adding a warrant has been issued for Lester’s re-arrest and his current location was unknown.
More on Missouri
Related Topics:
Mr Thompson also revealed Lester has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
He also said Lester and the 16-year-old did not exchange any words before the alleged attack, where the former used a .32 revolver to allegedly shoot Ralph in the head and in the arm through a glass door.
Advertisement
A GoFundMe page, thought to be set up by Ralph’s aunt Faith Spoonmore, said the teenager escaped the alleged attack, but had to knock at three different homes before someone helped him.
Police earlier said Ralph had a life-threatening injury but was in a stable condition.
Speaking to NBC News, Sky’s US partner network, the man who found Ralph covered in blood said he “thought he was dead”.
“I heard somebody screaming, ‘Help, help, I’ve been shot!'” James Lynch said, adding the shouting was out of place for the normally quiet neighbourhood.
Mr Lynch added he heard the screams as he was getting ready for bed, before running over to Ralph by jumping over his own fence and checking his pulse as he arrived.
Ralph apparently struggled to respond before he spelled his name.
Another neighbour arrived with towels to help stem the blood flow, and she and Mr Lynch waited with Ralph until paramedics arrived.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
5:54
The true scale of America’s gun problem
‘Stand up, fight back’
The shooting sparked a protest in Kansas City on Sunday, with hundreds gathering outside the home where Ralph was allegedly shot, with chants of “stand up, fight back!”.
Ms Spoonmore went live on Instagram from the protests, where she spoke to a woman who lived near the scene and saw Lester the morning after the alleged attack.
“This was a child that this man attempted to assassinate,” she said.
“He shot him twice. And we allowed him to not only go back home hours after the incident, but he was able to wake up the next morning and freaking claim like nothing ever happened.”
The GoFundMe for Ralph has raised more than $2 million since it was launched, with high profile donations from the likes of actress Julianne Hough, stand up comedian Ellyn Daniels, and screenwriter Mara Brock Akil.
About 10,000 pages of records related to the assassination of Robert F Kennedy (RFK) nearly 60 years ago have been released publicly for the first time.
The senator, who was the brother of US president John F Kennedy (JFK), was shot dead at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on 6 June 1968, moments after giving his victory speech for winning California’s Democratic presidential primary.
His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving life in prison.
RFK’s assassination, much like his brother’s in 1963, has been the subject of much speculation.
His son, Robert F Kennedy Jr, previously said he believed his father was killed by multiple gunmen, an assertion that contradicts official accounts.
After the documents were released on Friday, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said they would “shine a long-overdue light on the truth”.
Many files related to the senator’s assassination had already been released, but the ones posted to the US National Archives and Records Administration on Friday had not been digitised and sat for decades in storage facilities maintained by the federal government.
The move is a continuation of the release of historic withheld files ordered by US President Donald Trump, in an apparent bid to prove the transparency of his administration.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:39
Trump announcing release of JFK files in March
It started when he signed an executive order back in January for the release of thousands of files about JFK’s assassination, many of which were made public in March.
The files gave readers more details about the US’s covert operations during the Cold War-era, but did not lend legitimacy to any of the many conspiracy theories surrounding the former president’s death.
RFK Jr, who is also Mr Trump’s health secretary, commended the president and Ms Gabbard for their “courage” and “dogged efforts” to release the files.
“Lifting the veil on the RFK papers is a necessary step toward restoring trust in American government,” he said in a statement.
In a statement, Ms Gabbard said: “Nearly 60 years after the tragic assassination of senator Robert F Kennedy, the American people will, for the first time, have the opportunity to review the federal government’s investigation thanks to the leadership of president Trump.”
Lawyers for RFK’s killer have been pushing for his release for decades, saying he is unlikely to reoffend or pose a danger to society.
A parole board deemed Sirhan suitable for release in 2022, but California governor Gavin Newsom rejected the decision in 2022, keeping him in state prison.
A different panel denied him release in 2023, saying he still lacked insight into what caused him to shoot RFK.
Buckingham Palace previously only said the visit would happen “when diaries allow”, but Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday: “I think they are setting a date for September.”
“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one,” he said.
“The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”
Image: Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: PA
Mr Trump will become the only elected political leader in modern times to be invited to two state visits by a British monarch.
The president called the UK a “great country” in his comments at the White House on Thursday and said it was “an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William”.
His first state visit was in 2019, when he was hosted by the late Queen.
Second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit usually get tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.
Image: The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
But Mr Trump is set to get all the pomp and ceremony laid on again in his honour – with another state banquet likely at Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Family‘s soft power diplomacy is viewed as a way of currying favour with the president, who’s known for his love of the monarchy and links to the UK through his mother, who was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
It comes as the government seeks an economic deal with the US, in the hope of potentially lessening the impact of the president’s tariffs.
Four people are in hospital as police deal with an active shooter on a university campus in Florida.
Videos showed people running through traffic, fleeing the scene, around the time of the shooting at the student union at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee.
Local police were “on the scene or on the way”, according to an alert sent out by the school and students have been told to “shelter in place”.
The FBI is also said to be responding to the incident.
Image: Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school.
Pic: AP/Kate Payne
In a statement, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said it was “actively receiving and caring for patients” from the incident.
“At this time, details are still unfolding, and we do not yet have specific information to share. However, we want to assure the community that our teams are fully mobilised and prepared to provide the highest level of care and support to all those affected,” it added.
President Donald Trump said he was fully briefed on the incident and described it as “a shame”.
More on Florida
Related Topics:
He added: “It’s a horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place.”
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, in a statement posted on X, said: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.”
Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles raced to the campus around midday local time (5pm UK time) on Thursday.
As students streamed away from the area of the student union in their hundreds, some were visibly emotional and others were glued to their phones.
Dozens later gathered near the university’s music school, waiting for news.
Florida State University student Daniella Streety told NBC News of the chaos that unfolded at the scene.
She remained on lockdown in a campus building and said: “I did see them carry out one student in what looked like on a stretcher and kept them in the road until an ambulance was able to pick them up.”
Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the university’s main library when he said alarms began going off warning of an active shooter.
Police escorted him and other students out of the library with their hands over their heads, he said.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.