A neighbor who ran to help Ralph Yarl after he was shot when he accidentally rang the wrong doorbell said he initially thought the young man was dead — before his Eagle Scout training boy bled to death. was started to prevent
James Lynch, 42, told NBC News He had just gotten out of the shower Thursday night when he heard gunshots, so he went to his kitchen window to see a boy banging on someone’s door.
“I heard someone yelling, ‘Help! Help! I’ve been shot!” the father of three told the outlet.
He ran outside, jumped over his fence and ran into Yarl, whose face and arms were covered in blood – and found the 16-year-old had a head wound near his eye socket.
“I thought he was dead,” Lynch told NBC News on Monday, adding: “No one deserves to lie like that. He hasn’t even started living his life yet. He did not deserve to be shot.”
He said he remembered his old Eagle Scout training and began administering first aid with the help of another neighbor who brought some towels to staunch the bleeding.
“‘I’m going to hold your hand real tight,'” Lynch said he told the boy before checking his wrist for a pulse.
He also asked the young man his name – which Yarl managed to spell – and what school he went to while they waited for the paramedics to arrive.
Lynch shattered the notion that he was a hero.
“I did nothing but hold a child’s hand so he wouldn’t feel alone. He was shot twice – there was a hole in the side of his head. That kid is tougher than me,” he told NBC News.
Andrew Lester, 84, the white man who allegedly shot Yarl in what the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office said was a crime with a “racial component,” was charged Monday with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. was accused of
A warrant was issued for Lester’s arrest and bond was set at $200,000.
He allegedly shot Yarl twice with a .32-caliber revolver — once in the head and once in the arm — after the teenager accidentally knocked on his door to pick up his younger twin brothers, who were actually at a nearby home. were in
Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson told reporters that Lester did not exchange words with Yarl before shooting him through the glass door.
It was also revealed that the residence had warning signs against solicitors and intruders.
Family attorney Ben Crump said Yarl has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
“The assumption is that he’s young and strong and he’s a fighter… but that’s just the beginning – he’s not out of the woods yet,” he said of the promising young student and musician. “The great thing is [doctors] Said he was stable enough to go home.
