A white man in his 80s is the individual who apparently shot and seriously wounded Ralph Yarl, a Black teen, on April 13 in Kansas City, Missouri, according to a CNN review of property records, police statements and detention records.
CNN is not naming the man at this time, given he has not been charged.
Two representatives at the Kansas City Police Department detention unit read the man's booking information to CNN over the phone. They confirmed the man who was booked on an investigation hold was a White man in his 80s and his home address matches the address where the shooting took place.
The representatives also noted he was taken into custody on April 13 just before midnight and was released less than two hours later at 1:24 a.m. on April 14.
Property records, and a neighbor who spoke to CNN, confirmed the man and his wife are the homeowners living at the shooting location.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said in a Sunday news conference a "homeowner" was placed on a 24-hour investigation hold following the shooting. After consulting with the Clay County prosecutor's office, the homeowner was released pending further investigation.
Police also said that they have to interview the victim, and collect other forensics.
CNN has not been able to reach the man for comment at this time. A lawyer was not listed in the booking report.
Officers responded to a home on April 13, just before 10 p.m., after receiving reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found a Ralph, who had been shot outside the residence by the homeowner.
The neighbor CNN spoke with said they did not hear the shooting because they were asleep. But did say once awake, "We came outside (the victim) was laying in the street surrounded by a few of our neighbors."
CNN has requested the booking report and mug shot for the accused shooter, in addition to the incident report, but has not yet received it from the Kansas City Police Department.
Ralph was transported to a hospital where he is currently in stable condition, police said. amily attorney Ben Crump said the teen was shot in the head and chest and is "obviously distraught" by the incident.
"He understands that he could be dead now," said Crump, describing Ralph as a musician and an honor roll student who was hoping to attend Texas A&M University.
Crump claimed the shooting was a racial profiling incident in an interview with CNN's John Berman.
"We have been informed by his family that it was a White man who shot their 16-year-old son," Crump said, explaining that he believes the teen was shot because he is Black.
"It is inescapable not to observe the racial dynamics here," said Crump. "If the roles were reversed," he continued, "how much outraged would there be in America?"
At a weekend rally, community and family members marched to and demonstrated in front of the man's house, calling for charges to be filed.
The boy's father said, "We want charges. That's what we want."
Protesters took to the streets after a homeowner shot and wounded a teenager who had gone to the wrong home to pick up his siblings in Kansas City, Missouri, police said Sunday.
Ralph Yarl, 16, was "shot twice and struck in the head and arm," his family's attorneys said in a statement.
Protesters marched as they chanted, "justice for Ralph" and "Black lives matter," and carried signs reading, "Ringing a doorbell is not a crime" and "The shooter should do the time," footage from CNN affiliate KMBC shows.
Officers responded to reports of a shooting on the evening of April 13 and arrived to find a teenager who had been shot by a homeowner outside a residence, according to Kansas City Police.
The teen was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition Sunday, police said.
"Despite the severity of his injuries and the seriousness of his condition, Ralph is alive and recovering," civil rights attorneys S. Lee Merritt and Benjamin Crump, who have been retained by Yarl and his family, said in the statement.
Police learned the teenager's parents had asked him to pick up his siblings at an address on 115th Terrace, but he accidentally went to a home on 115th Street, where he was shot.
"Ralph Yarl was picking up his younger brothers when he mistakenly rang the doorbell at the wrong house. A man shot Ralph twice and now he's in critical condition. His family needs support during this tragedy," Crump tweeted.
The homeowner -- who has not been identified -- was taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour hold, then released while police work to get a victim statement and gather more forensic evidence.
Under Missouri law, a person can be held for up to 24 hours for investigation of a felony, at which time they are required to be charged or released, Graves said at the news conference.
Attorneys for the wounded youth's family issued a statement demanding "swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting."
Asked whether the shooting may have been racially motivated, the police chief said, "the information that we have now, it does not say that that is racially motivated. That's still an active investigation. But as a chief of police, I do recognize the racial components of this case."
Graves sought to assure the Kansas City community Sunday the police department is committed to the case.
"We recognize the frustration this can cause in the entire criminal justice process. The women and men of the Kansas City Police Department are working as expeditiously and as thoroughly as we can, to ensure the criminal justice process continues to advance as quickly as all involved and our community deserve," Graves said.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said there will be a thorough investigation and review by the prosecutor's office.
"As a parent, I certainly feel for the mother of the victim and others in the family. My heart goes out to them," the mayor added.
Teen was a band section leader
A GoFundMe started by Faith Spoonmore, who identified herself as Ralph's aunt, to help the family raise money for medical expenses had garnered more than $1 million in donations by Monday morning.
Ralph had been looking forward to graduating from high school and visiting West Africa before starting college, his aunt wrote in the fundraiser.
The teen is a section leader in a marching band and could often be found with a musical instrument in hand, Spoonmore wrote. Most recently, Ralph earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention for playing the bass clarinet, according to a North Kansas City Schools' newsletter in February. He also plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra, his aunt wrote.
He is a member of his school's Technology Student Association and Science Olympiad Team and is a 2022 Missouri Scholars Academy alumni, she wrote.
"Last summer, Ralph attended Missouri Scholar's Academy, where he got a full college life experience," Spoonmore wrote. "His goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in chemical Engineering. When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, 'Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it.' "
"Life looks a lot different right now. Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally. The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable," the GoFundMe post reads.
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