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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?
My grandpa has absolutely skewed my understanding of what a "normal" old person is supposed to be like.
He was performing surgeries himself till he was 80, assisting in them till he was 85, seeing patients in his clinic till he was 91 and the pandemic hit, and now he's 94 and still largely in control of his faculties even as his cognitive functions have obviously declined.
I see a doddering old fool and immediately assume he's something like 90, only to be embarrassed when they're a ripe young age of 75, hard to remember that people mostly end up senile by their late 80s!
I've seen both. My grandmother was spry, sharp, and leading tourists and boyscout troops on horseback-riding and canoeing trips right up to the morning she died of a stroke at the age of 89. Her husband (my grandad) having succumbed to cancer 20 years prior.
In contrast my next-door neighbors are in their late 60s early 70, but since the pandemic they've stopped going out, stopped taking care of themselves, and I feel like I've watched them age 20+ years in the last 3. And it's depressing because their daughter is a friend and my better-half and I will get phone calls asking if we can do some basic house-hold task or another because they're both too frail now to take out their own trash or work a toilet plunger properly.
My in-laws live with us, and my MIL has basically receded from life since age 75. Very overweight, can't hear very well, in pain all the time, and won't do anything to try to improve the situation. She has inspired me to make sure I never stop moving and thinking. My FIL is a little better because he helps take care of my son and does the cooking, but he could still stand to get out of the house more.
My own parents went into severe hibernation over the pandemic and still haven't come out, but they are at least staying active and taking care of their bodies.
One big difference between the two couples is class: my in-laws are blue-collar while my parents are white-collar. If I were to generalize from this tiny sample, I would say there is more of an expectation among white-collar groups that you will keep your shit together as you get older.
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