Ralph Yarl GoFundMe Raises $1M as Anger Grows Over Shooting of Black Teen

A GoFundMe page for a Black teenager who was shot by a homeowner after he rang the doorbell of the wrong home, has amassed more than $1 million in donations.

Ralph Yarl was hospitalized on Thursday after being shot while trying to pick up his younger brothers from a friend's house in Kansas City, Missouri.

The 16-year-old "mistakenly went to the wrong house, one block away from the house where his siblings were," his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on the fundraising page.

Spoonmore said her nephew, who didn't have his phone on him, "pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell. The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again."

She said the teen was able to get up and run, but had to ask at three different homes before someone agreed to help—but only "after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up."

Police initially said Yarl was in a stable condition but had a life-threatening injury.

Spoonmore wrote on the page that he "is doing well physically," but "has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally." She added: "The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable. He is our miracle."

Spoonmore set up the page on Sunday afternoon. More than 25,000 donations were made in less than 24 hours, taking the total to more than $1 million.

The money will be used to pay for his medical bills and therapy, Spoonmore wrote on the page. Remaining funds will be used to pay for college expenses, a trip to West Africa and other expenses.

"Ralph deserves to have the future that he has dreams about. He deserves to be the light that shows the world that LOVE wins and that humanity is still Good," she wrote.

Newsweek reached out to civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, who are representing Yarl's family, via email for comment.

The teen's shooting prompted anger in the community, with hundreds of people gathering to protest on Sunday in the neighborhood where it occurred. They called for the shooter to be arrested and charged with a hate crime.

Police have not identified the shooter or his race, but Yarl's family have said he is white.

During a news conference on Sunday, Police Chief Stacey Graves said the man had been taken into custody on Thursday and placed on a 24-hour investigative hold.

Detectives recovered the firearm allegedly used in the shooting while searching the scene for evidence, she said.

Police released the suspect pending further investigation after consulting with the Clay County Prosecutor's Office. Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation, then the person must either be released or arrested and formally charged.

Graves said law enforcement need a formal victim statement, forensic evidence and other information for a case file to be completed.

Police have not been able to get a victim statement yet because of the teen's injuries, she said.

The Kansas City Star reported that information that officials have now does not point to the crime being racially motivated, but Graves said it remains under investigation. Investigators also will consider whether or not the suspect was protected within the Stand Your Ground laws, Graves said.

Crump and Merritt, who have been retained to represent the Yarl family, released a statement calling on law enforcement and the Clay County Prosecutor's Office to act swiftly to "identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting."