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CNN: "Accused shooter in Kansas City shooting of Black teen who went to the wrong house is White man in his 80s" Archive: https://archive.is/NcFb5
Edit: Andrew Lester is the 84 year old white man and is facing charges of assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Clay County attorney Zachary Thompson states there was a racial element but hate crimes is a lower charge so will not be brought. "There is no evidence that the teen entered the home and preliminary evidence shows Lester opened fire on the teen through a glass door with a .32 caliber revolver"
Ralph Yarl is the black teen that was shot outside of Kansas City, Missouri. Early it was reported that he was shot twice in the head but now his family's attorneys are saying that Yarl "shot twice and struck in the head and arm" and Yarl has now been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
The white man in his 80's "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."
By all accounts I am seeing Ralph Yarl is a band geek which places my heuristic chances of aggression on his part as low. If I found the correct streets the subdivision is one of the last developments before hitting mostly farms and the street names are really confusing with the developer using the same number twice and then alternating between "Street" and "Terrace."
Of course, still waiting on details but in my opinion this could likely be what some people consider to be the quintessential example of a "racist" shooting. If that's the case and the only quibble between Red Tribe and Blue Tribe is if it would have made a difference if the kid was white or black does this story gain a much traction with that little toxoplasma or does it more go the way of the Eric Garner and Philando Castile killings?
About 25 years ago, some elderly relatives of mine were victims of a home invasion. They had been living in the same house in California for 40 or 50 years, and the character of the neighborhood had changed dramatically over that span. Their children had a security screen installed, but the octogenarian parents never bothered to bolt it. One day someone knocked on their door, so... they opened their door! They were quickly overpowered by a couple of young men (very possibly teens, but no one was ever caught or charged so who knows) who tied them to chairs, pistol whipped them a bit, cleaned out their valuables, and left. One of their children happened to stop by later that day, by which point both had soiled themselves and achieved a number of wounds trying to get free from their bonds. Both lived a few more years, but neither ever really emotionally recovered from the trauma.
Daytime home invasions are exceedingly rare, but when they happen and are accurately reported in detail, they can seize the public imagination, particularly among vulnerable populations. I personally have occasional nightmares about answering my door to home invaders, even though I've never personally experienced such a thing (and rarely remember dreaming at all!).
This case in Kansas seems especially well-tuned for culture warring on both race and firearms, but depending on the shooter's mental and physical health, probably neither is the most salient feature of these events. I really think we would be better off if this started a conversation about filial piety, elder care, and the incredible benefits of cultivating close, supportive family, but I'm sure that is a hope in vain.
Yeah it’s gonna be “white man bad”, especially important story for the media to run with now given the spate of videos going around twitter of blacks attacking random people in cities like Chicago
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Apparently we recently had an honest-to-god serial old-people-killer very near our home in the absolute nowhere of rural Germany. Seems he was active over several years, and a suspect has been caught a few weeks ago. My old grandparents then had an extra bolt installed in their front door, which they used to have unlocked during the day.
Guns are, for self-defense or home-defense purposes, banned in Germany. Families are atomized.
Somehow I’m sure the gun banning doesn’t make people feel safer
Of course not, nobody here feels threatened by guns. People who own guns are extremely discreet about them lest they ruin their reputation or commit any of the many wrongs that would see them lose their license, so most people don't even see a gun, ever, except in the hands of police.
But whenever the topic of guns comes up, two opinions prevail:
It's a good thing we aren't those crazy americans.
We need to regulate them even more since somehow somebody still managed to get shot in Germany this year.
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