Yarl, then 16, was shot last year when he mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell while trying to pick up his brothers, authorities said.

A Black teenager who was shot in the head by a white homeowner in Missouri after he mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell has secured a spot in the all-state band months after the shooting.

Last week, North Kansas City Schools publicized on Facebook that Ralph Yarl was one of four students in the area to earn the prestigious recognition. Yarl plays bass clarinet and was named second chair in the all-state band, according to the post.

“Bravo to Eliza Cockrell and Stephen Kwon from Northtown, and Ralph Yarl and Carter Walters from Staley! They’ve earned a spot in the 2024 Missouri All State Orchestra or Band and will perform at the Missouri Music Educators Association annual conference in January at Margaritaville Lake Resort in Lake of the Ozarks,” the statement read.

  • macarthur_park@lemmy.world
    831·
    10 months ago

    The whole story is wild, and terrible.

    He rang the doorbell shortly before 10 p.m. and waited for someone to respond, Merritt said.

    “Whoever was inside took a little longer than he anticipated to respond, and so he just waited at the door,” Merritt said, citing a statement Yarl gave to law enforcement investigators from his hospital bed Friday.

    “He heard rustling around going on in the house and then finally the door was open,” the attorney said. “And he was confronted by a man who told him, ‘Don’t come back around here,’ and then he immediately fired his weapon.”

    Yarl was shot in the head, which cracked his skull and left him with a critical, traumatic brain injury, the attorney said. While the teenager was still on the ground, the homeowner opened fire a second time, striking Yarl in the upper right arm, Merritt said.

    And then

    Merritt said the teenager saved his own life by fleeing and banging on at least three neighbors’ doors for help.

    At the third home, Merritt said, the neighbor told Yarl to lie on the ground and put his hands in the air. He complied and then passed out, the attorney said.

    • andrew@lemmy.stuart.funEnglish
      912·
      10 months ago

      Sounds like a real stand-up neighborhood. Shot and bleeding kid asking for your help? Better neutralize the threat before getting help.

      It’s like the whole neighborhood cosplays as cops/soldiers and thinks everything unfamiliar is a threat.

      • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
        501·
        10 months ago

        That’s what happens when an entire population is silo’d by hyperindividualism and can’t imagine an interdependent community.

            • ABCDE@lemmy.world
              71·
              10 months ago

              Thanks, what’s the meaning here? Like… the population is separated instead of together?

              • BakerBagel@midwest.social
                201·
                10 months ago

                You don’t mix your silos. A farmer would have one silo for rye, one for barley, one for oats, etc. So by saying everyone is siloed it means everyone is separated into tiny groups no larger than immediate family.

              • andrew@lemmy.stuart.funEnglish
                3·
                10 months ago

                To add to what everyone else is saying, it’s often self inflicted via culture. When you’re brought up to treat people who look different as not part of your group, that’s hard to unlearn as adults and so it just self perpetuates and you end up with groups of people that never interact, sometimes fearing anyone not in “their group” for no other reason. Or even for flawed inaccurate reasons.

          • HACKthePRISONS@kolektiva.social
            121·
            10 months ago

            concentrated and/or contained.

            a silo on a farm is where you keep your grain or your animal feed. “silage” is the term for the feed kept in there, and its’ not likely human-edible. it also has a tendency to break down/decompose.

            we also keep missiles in silos. but i think it’s used more in the context of sequestering and storing.

            does that help?

    • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works
      551·
      10 months ago

      “And he was confronted by a man who told him, ‘Don’t come back around here,’ and then he immediately fired his weapon.” While the teenager was still on the ground, the homeowner opened fire a second time, striking Yarl in the upper right arm, Merritt said.

      Isn’t that a proof he wanted a poor guy dead and just luckily missed the second time? What’s the ugly mess in some heads.