Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) on Monday denounced last week’s shooting of a Black Kansas City, Mo., teenager who had arrived at a wrong address.
“As someone who is still recovering from a gunshot to the head, I am heartbroken and infuriated that Ralph Yarl now faces a lifetime of recovery. At 16 years old. For simply ringing a doorbell,” Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt more than a decade ago, said on Twitter.
Yarl was reportedly shot in the head and arm by an unidentified white male homeowner in Kansas City. According to his family, Ralph showed up to the wrong address on his way to pick up his younger brothers from a friend’s house.
“We cannot continue to be a nation defined by gun violence and injustice,” Giffords said.
Giffords, who is married to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), was shot in the head during a meeting with constituents back in 2011, and was left with partial paralysis and language impairment. She stepped back from Congress and has become an advocate against gun violence.
Kansas City authorities have said the investigation into the recent shooting includes questions about whether the incident was racially motivated and whether the homeowner should be charged, given Missouri’s “Stand Your Ground” laws, which allow for deadly force in self-defense. Officials said the homeowner was taken into a 24-hour hold last week and then released amid the ongoing investigation.
Ralph’s aunt, Faith Spoonmore, has said he’s “doing well physically” but faces emotional trauma. Spoonmore has also set up a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for the teenager’s medical bills.
On Sunday, renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced that Yarl’s family has retained his office’s services.
“There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell!” Crump said in a statement.
“We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.”
The Associated Press contributed.