# The Shooting of Ralph Yarl in Kansas City (he knocked on the wrong door) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803 "2023-04-17T16:00:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/81 "2023-04-20T02:09:43Z")
No, I’m agreeing with you. You should kill anyone asap because even if it’s 98% likely it’s a simple misunderstanding, there’s a 2% you might be in danger. You can’t take that chance. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/82 "2023-04-20T02:09:44Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Sad that opening the wrong car door on accident could be a death sentence. So, apparently, is letting your basketball roll into the neighbor’s yard. > **[Little girl, parents shot after ball rolls into gunman’s yard in Gastonia;...](https://www.qcnews.com/news/u-s/north-carolina/gaston-county/police-search-for-suspect-after-gastonia-double-shooting/amp/)** > > A manhunt was underway for an ‘armed and dangerous’ man accused of shooting several people, including a six-year-old girl and her parents, until he turned himself into authorities in Fl… ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/83 "2023-04-20T02:13:19Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Sitting here watching the reactions to the [Jayland Walker](https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/04/17/grand-jury-decision-in-jayland-walker-akron-police-shooting-case/70102616007/) case here in Akron. Unarmed Black man shot 46 times by police last fall. The 8 officers involved will not be charged. You’re referring to someone who shot at police while fleeing. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/84 "2023-04-20T02:15:44Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I think there is a higher probability of this if a stranger gets into my car with me without permission. Or are you saying people need to be beaten, stabbed or shot before they can react to a carjacking? I don’t like “stand-your-ground” or “castle doctrine” laws in the first place. I’m doubly opposed to applying them to this sort of circumstance. If you are of the opinion that you should have the right to fire on someone when they enter your car without invitation, but before they have said a word or taken any hostile act like brandishing a weapon, I’m afraid we’re just going to have to disagree. Someone suddenly sitting in your passenger seat should not be grounds for you to immediately take deadly action out of an overabundance of caution. ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/85 "2023-04-20T02:18:34Z")
Not likely… the guy who shot the cheerleaders is Hispanic. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/86 "2023-04-20T02:36:00Z")
I realize now that I’m lucky I wasn’t shot 7 years ago. I had wandered into the wrong house because of a confusing address, even went into the living room. This was in Texas. The homeowner was very indignant (understandably so) and could have opened fire if he wanted. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/87 "2023-04-20T02:47:38Z")
My wife and I went to an RV show years ago. Outside of the main building sat a pretty, new motorhome. My wife opened the door and walked in … to a privately-owned coach with two older couples sitting inside, eating lunch. Everybody laughed about it. I’m eternally grateful that nobody shot the love of my life. [segue] And then there was the story of Botham Jean … shot dead while eating ice cream and sitting on _his_ sofa, in _his_ apartment, when an overly tired Dallas Police Department patrol officer walked into _his_ apartment by mistake and … saw a man of color in “her” apartment: She was on the wrong floor of their apartment building. > **[Murder of Botham Jean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Botham_Jean)** > > On the night of September 6, 2018, 26-year-old accountant Botham Jean was murdered when off-duty Dallas Police Department patrol officer Amber Guyger entered Jean's apartment in Dallas, Texas and fatally shot him. Guyger, who said that she had entered Jean's apartment believing it was her own and believed Jean to be a burglar, was initially charged with manslaughter. The absence of a murder charge led to protests and accusations of racial bias, since Jean was a black man and unarmed and was Bot... Yeah. It’s becoming all too dystopian in the US, all too quickly. I’d like to thank the party of Fear & Faith for their lead role in this Kafkaesque shit-show. Honorable Mention (or better) goes to the Ultimate Example of Perverse Incentives In American Action, the National Rifle Association (“What you people don’t understand is … the “armed society” doesn’t _become_ a “polite society” until you surpass the half-billion gun threshold. You’re still some 100 million guns shy. Give 'til it hurts”). I wanted to bothsides this, just … _pro forma_, but I just can’t find anything even remotely equivalent anymore. Not since somewhere in late 2015 … ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/88 "2023-04-20T03:09:57Z")
Probably mid 80’s in college I lived in the basement apartment of a three story house that had multiple single rooms for rent. One occupant got drunk one night and walked in the unlocked front door of the wrong house and passed out on their living room sofa. The next morning the elderly couple woke up and gave him a cup of coffee and said “You need to go home” ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/89 "2023-04-20T03:13:23Z")
This epitomizes the problem with American gun violence. Paranoia and jumping at shadows. Yes, you need 3 pistols and an AR-15 to shop in Walmart, because hey, you never know. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/90 "2023-04-20T03:34:35Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > Yes, you need 3 pistols and an AR-15 to shop in Walmart, because hey, you never know. Yeah, well, that’s Walmart. Out here there are gun lockers folks are supposed to use when going into the library. These are the sort of lockers that have the key locked into the lock until the locker is locked and then the gunowner could carry the key with them. A lawsuit happened because there was nothing stopping people from locking the lockers and then taking the keys to be copied so they could later use the keys to steal guns. Now the keys are somewhere at the circulation desk to be handed out on request after the library card was scanned. Considering we are talking Prescott Arizona, it’s amazing anyone noticed the lockers to start with and I’m quite sure they have never been used. Except for folks like me who use the big ones to stash my coffee while I am browsing. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/91 "2023-04-20T03:57:00Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I realize now that I’m lucky I wasn’t shot 7 years ago. I had wandered into the wrong house because of a confusing address, even went into the living room. How does that happen? If I knock on the door and nobody answers I’m not going in even if I think I have the right place. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/92 "2023-04-20T04:14:43Z")
I was going to a friend’s house but he didn’t tell me it was a split resident with “A” and “B.” Furthermore, he’d told me the door was unlocked and to walk right in and begin putting the party stuff on the dining room table. So I go to what I think is the right place, open the door (unlocked,) go right into the living room, start putting the party stuff there, and think, “well, where is the friend?” Then an angry white man emerges from the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/93 "2023-04-20T04:30:27Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I was going to a friend’s house but he didn’t tell me it was a split resident with “A” and “B.” Furthermore, he’d told me the door was unlocked and to walk right in and begin putting the party stuff on the dining room table. Fair enough. It’s possible I just grew up in some rough neighbohoods, but the idea of just keeping my door unlocked when I’m hanging out in my house is odd. I don’t mean your friend, he was expecting company, but the neighbor guy just hanging out with his door unlocked is odd to mind. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people who get shot when breaking into someone’s home. But then I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people who shoot someone for knocking on the door either. The only time I’ve ever pointed a weapon at another human being was when two people were trying to break into my house through the sliding glass door in the kitchen. It was in the middle of the day, I could see they were unarmed (or at least they didn’t have weapons in hand), and they were quick to beat a hasty retreat when I told them to get lost. I do think people have a right to employ violence in self-defense. But I’m a big fan of the reasonable person standard, and I think a lot of people are a little out there when it comes to what is reasonable. If I see someone walking out of my house with my televison they can just keep walking so far as I’m concerned. Even if I cared deeply about that television, it’s not worth risking my own life going after it. But I’d probably fight pretty hard to keep someone out. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/94 "2023-04-20T04:35:02Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > just hanging out with his door unlocked is odd to mind. I don’t think I have ever sat around my house with the door locked. It’s probably not locked now, and it’s 1030 at night. I’ll lock it when I go to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/95 "2023-04-20T06:12:50Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I think there is a higher probability of this if a stranger gets into my car with me without permission. Or are you saying people need to be beaten, stabbed or shot before they can react to a carjacking? Higher probability? like .001% instead of .0001%? Anyone that paranoid should lock their car doors when in the car, so no problem. I think this is a case of the availability bias, in which you think things you’ve heard about happen more frequently than they do. TV news shows every problem in the city, and if there are none show clips of problems half way across the country. No wonder people get paranoid. I had a silver Prius which looked like about half the cars in the average Bay Area parking lot. I never went to the wrong car, but I came close. BTW the carjackings I’ve read about are women with groceries opening their cars. Few I remember are of guys sitting in the car. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/96 "2023-04-20T12:40:16Z")
> [@pirviii](#): > > I don’t think I have ever sat around my house with the door locked. Same. We used to never lock our doors when we were home. Now that we have a younger person living in our house, we try to remember to lock our doors at night. But they are typically unlocked when we are home and awake. I go in and out so much (we have a detached garage/shop), I’d be locked out a ton. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/97 "2023-04-20T13:01:12Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I’d be locked out a ton. The solution to that, which I have implemented in my last half-dozen residences is to replace the doorknob assembly with one that does not lock at all. Like you’d use on a closet door. Then rely exclusively on a separate deadbolt to lock the door. You need a key to lock the door from the outside. it can’t possibly close and lock on its own. So you can’t lock yourself out. That doesn’t prevent absent-minded housemates from seeing the unbolted door and bolting it from the inside while you’re outside and keyless. Moral of that story: You can make things foolproof against yourself. But not against other fools; there you’re outnumbered and outgunned. 😁 An alternative is to get an electronic combination lockset. I had one of those for years too. Enter the secret code to get in, no key required. The non-locking doorknob and the e-combination deadbolt was the height of convenience and fool-proofity. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/98 "2023-04-20T13:09:52Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > An alternative is to get an electronic combination lockset. I’ve thought of going this route, but in my long list of tasks, it’s down towards the bottom. Some day! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/99 "2023-04-20T13:15:24Z")
That presupposes of course you have any need to lock your doors. Many people don’t. HD sells the e-combination locksets as both handlesets and as deadbolts. In either case they install exactly like an ordinary mechanical doorknob or deadbolt. So for the effort to remove and reinstall 4 Phillips screws and fitting together a couple of hunks of metal, you’re done. This is the model I happened to use. There are plenty of other shapes, styles, and brands along the same concept. Many of which are much less expensive if that matters. > **[Schlage Camelot Satin Nickel Electronic Keypad Deadbolt Door Lock BE365 CAM...](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Schlage-Camelot-Satin-Nickel-Electronic-Keypad-Deadbolt-Door-Lock-BE365-CAM-619/203072627)** > > No more keys to hide, lose, carry or forget. Camelot Satin Nickel Keypad Electronic Deadbolt offers keyless access and provide maximum security protection to make your life more convenient. Install and ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803/100 "2023-04-20T13:21:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > An alternative is to get an electronic combination lockset. I had one of those for years too. Enter the secret code to get in, no key required. The non-locking doorknob and the e-combination deadbolt was the height of convenience and fool-proofity. We did this for Dad. Not because he had a habit of forgetting his keys, but because with his health the way it is, if one of us needed to get in quickly because something happened to him, we wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting the key or finding a hide-a- key. I’ll admit that I’m not sure if I completely like it. I can never wake the darn thing up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shooting-of-ralph-yarl-in-kansas-city-he-knocked-on-the-wrong-door/982803.md?page=6)