A veteran, airplane mechanic: What we know about Andrew Lester, man who shot Ralph Yarl

Update: A grandson says Andrew Lester bought into conspiracies, disinformation

The elderly man who shot a teenager in Kansas City’s Northland last week, sparking a national conversation on race and guns, is a military veteran who once worked as an airline mechanic.

Little is known publicly about Andrew D. Lester, 84, the white man who is accused of firing two shots into 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is Black, after police say the teen rang his doorbell Thursday. Lester has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.

The teenager, an honor student at Staley High School, accidentally went to the wrong house while trying to pick up his younger brothers and was shot twice, including in the head. The shooting, a local civil rights leader said, again showed Missouri is “one of the most unsafe places” for Black people in America.

Lester, who has no known criminal history, appears to have mostly kept to himself in his neighborhood in the 1100 block of Northeast 115th Street. But his home, which has since been egged and tagged with spray paint, has become a focal point for advocates calling for racial justice.

A relative of Lester’s said he thinks characterizing the shooting as a hate crime is inaccurate.

Daniel Ludwig, 30, a Kansas City man who says he is Lester’s grandson, said he did not believe race played a role in the shooting. He appears to be the first of Lester’s relatives to comment on the shooting.

“It’s just sad and I wish it didn’t happen,” Ludwig told The Star. “It seems like a bunch of mistakes in a row that resulted in a tragedy. I mean, a lot of mistakes all the way around, unfortunately.”

Ludwig believed his grandfather would not have fired had Yarl not “gone for the door.” It was clear, he said, that the shooting did not unfold “for no reason.”

“If you look at the affidavit, there were actions taken that caused it,” he said, later adding: “My grandpa’s side isn’t being reported.”

Yarl, however, told police he was “immediately” shot after simply ringing the doorbell.

Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney representing the Yarl family, said Yarl “never” put his hand on Lester’s door and did not try to enter the home.

“Mind you, touching the door in and of itself wouldn’t be enough to justify the use of deadly force,” he said Wednesday. “Ralph rang the doorbell and waited quietly outside until the door was open.”

Earlier this week, Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said there was a “racial component” to the shooting, though he did not elaborate. Civil rights and faith leaders have called for Lester to additionally face federal hate crime charges.

Lester told detectives he was “scared to death” when he shot Yarl, saying he saw him pulling on the exterior storm door handle and assumed he was breaking in. Lester said he was protecting himself. He was “visibly upset,” police wrote, and “repeatedly expressed concern for the victim.”

Lester acknowledged he opened fire “within a few seconds” of seeing Yarl on his doorstep.

After the shooting, Lester said, he immediately called 911. Officers found him standing inside the house behind a shattered glass storm door, which was locked.

Yarl, however, said he rang the doorbell and was immediately shot in the head. He fell to the ground, then was shot in the arm. Lester told him: “Don’t come around here,” according to a probable cause statement.

While a sign outside Lester’s house warns that the property “is protected by surveillance cameras,” detectives soon learned that the system had not worked since June 2022.

Before the shooting, Lester appears to have been living a quiet life in retirement. Some neighbors said they did not know him, while another said he “does not represent us.”

Lester was a mechanic in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, Ludwig said, but it is unclear where he was based. Online records show someone with his name served for 10 years in the Air National Guard in Virginia, but the National Guard was not able to confirm that information immediately.

He later worked as a mechanic for an airline, his grandson said. Employment records matching Lester’s addresses indicate he once worked as a technician for America West Airlines, an airline that had been based in Tempe, Arizona.

It is not clear when or where Lester worked for the company. Property records suggest he has resided over the years in Mesa, Arizona; El Segundo, California; El Paso, Texas; and Virginia.

Lester is married, but his wife was “in care” at the time of the shooting, Ludwig said, so Lester was at home alone that night. Lester’s wife could not be reached for comment.

For many years, Lester held a Missouri hunting license, including one issued as recently as 2016.

The Star could not reach Lester for comment. An attorney for Lester just entered the case on Wednesday.

Lester made his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Clay County courthouse in Liberty. The next court date was set for June 1.

Merritt posted a picture with Yarl on social media Wednesday, saying he was home and recovering.

“How the bullet in his head did not cause more extensive damage is truly a miracle,” Merritt wrote. “To God be the glory!”

In an interview earlier this week with “CBS Mornings,” Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, said her son had a bullet in his left frontal lobe for up to 12 hours before it was taken out.

Merritt said Yarl was expected to make a full recovery, but “you’re dealing with permanent injuries, from the cracked skull, to the brain tissue loss, etc., to the scarring ...”

“There is nothing normal about the story,” Merritt said Tuesday. “Ralph Yarl shouldn’t be here today. He was shot point blank in the head and a bullet entered his brain.”

The Star’s Glenn E. Rice contributed to this report.