Ralph Yarl, teen shot after going to the wrong house, speaks out in ‘GMA’ exclusive.
Ralph Yarlis opening up about his shooting for the first time.
“He only said five words: ‘Don’t come here ever again,' " Yarl toldRobin Robertsabout his assailant Andrew Lester, 84, when she asked if “there were any words exchanged” before the man opened fire.
“He points [the gun] at me … so I kinda, like, brace and I turn my head,” Yarl continued. “Then it happened. And then I’m on the ground … and then I fall on the glass. The shattered glass. And then before I know it I’m running away shouting, ‘Help me, help me.'”
Yarl added that despite the fact he was bleeding from the head at the time he remained surprisingly “alert” as his “instincts took over.”
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At this point, he told Roberts that he tried to find someone to help but faced several rejections before anyone would provide assistance. The first house he went to just shut the door on him and locked it, he revealed.
“So then I go to the next house across the street,” he said. “No one answers. And the house to the right of that house, I go there and someone opens the door and tells me to wait for the police.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, Lester told police he believed someone was trying to break into his house and shot twice within a few seconds of opening the door, reportedABC News.
He now faces one charge of felony assault in the first degree and another charge of armed criminal action.
Lester has denied the charges and is waiting for his trial, currently released on a $200,000 bond. According to ABC News, a judge partially sealed the evidence in the case after Lester’s attorney, Steven Salmon, filed a protective order.
“As a party to the criminal case, any statement from Mr. Lester would certainly violate that order. I can say Mr. Lester is looking forward to the upcoming preliminary hearing.”
Yarl, who now raises money for traumatic brain injuries related to wrongful shootings at homes, described himself as a normal kid who won’t let this incident affect his happiness.
“Classical music kinda resonates with me,” he said. “Just the feeling that it creates and the fact that you can make it yourself … it kinda invigorates me.”
“I’m just a kid,” he added. “I’m not larger than life because this happened to me. I’m just going to keep doing the stuff that makes me happy and just living my life the best I can and not let this bother me.”
Yarl’s aunt, Faith Spoonmore, toldABC Newslast month that her nephew did not want to go back to his home because he was shot in the same neighborhood where he lived. She said they have since relocated to a different area.
source: people.com
