Neighbor recalls Ralph Yarl banging on door for help after shooting

A neighbor who tried to help Ralph Yarl after he was shot in the head has recounted how the boy banged on her door and pleaded for help, telling her, “It hurts.”

The neighbor recounted the frantic moments after the wounded 16-year-old arrived last Thursday at her Kansas City home, where she was inside with her son.

“All of a sudden someone started banging, crazy banging on my front door, shaking the handle saying, ‘I need help! I need help!’” the woman, who wanted to be identified only as Jodi, told KCTV 5.

She called 911 and was told by the dispatcher not to open the door because of reports about an active shooter in the area.

“I go, ‘I think he’s hurt. He needs help. I want to go out there,’ and she’s like, ‘You don’t know where the shooter is,’” Jodi told the outlet. “And I said, ‘He (Yarl) just went down.’”

The woman said she glanced outside and saw other people with flashlights running to the child, who had just been shot in the head and arm with a .32-caliber revolver.

“I told my son and said, ‘He’s been shot!’ and I ran out,” she recalled.

Yarl then told the neighbors about his horrific encounter with 84-year-old Andrew Lester, who allegedly shot the teen when he mistakenly showed up at the elderly man’s address to pick up his twin brothers.

“He goes, ‘I was supposed to pick up my little brothers from their friend’s house and knocked on the door and the man came to the door with a gun and shot me in the head,’” Jodi told KCTV.

She said she asked the teen questions to keep him from losing consciousness.

“He wanted to start crying. He goes ‘It hurts,’ and I go ‘I’m sure it does, but I want you to look at me, look at me, help is on the way,’” Jodi told the outlet tearfully.

She said she moved to the neighborhood recently and had only interacted with the suspect briefly, including when she waved at him as she picked up her mail.

Jodi said she’ll do anything to support Yarl, who is recovering at home.

“He’s a very strong, brilliant child that has so much going for him in his future,” she said.

On Wednesday, Lester pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action, felonies that carry 10 to 30 years or life in prison.