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Showing up at the wrong front door, driving into the wrong driveway, retrieving a basketball from an angry neighbor’s yard … these are some of the scenarios that led to people being shot this month in the United States. Gun control activists say the shootings show the US needs stricter laws on who can buy a firearm. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has more.
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: US SHOOTINGS – WRONG PLACE (TV)
HEADLINE: Being at Wrong Place, Wrong Time Proves Dangerous in US
TEASER: America reeling from a spate of fatal shootings arising from misunderstandings
PUBLISHED AT: 04/25/2023 at 7:52p pm
BYLINE: LAUREL BOWMAN
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MBowman, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:42
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE:))
((INTRO ))
Showing up at the wrong front door, driving into the wrong driveway, retrieving a basketball from an angry neighbor’s yard … these are some of the scenarios that led to people being shot this month in the United States. Gun control activists say the shootings show the US needs stricter laws on who can buy a firearm. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has more.
((NARRATOR)) ((Mandatory CG: Lee Merritt))
These are some of the victims who were at the ((end courtesy)) wrong place at the wrong time and met gunfire as a consequence.
((NARRATOR)) Twenty-year-old Kaylin Gillis was shot dead by 65-year-old Kevin Monahan when she and her friends ventured by car too close to his home in New York.
((For radio only: Her father, Andrew Gillis.))
((Andrew Gillis, Father of Kaylin Gillis))
“My daughter was an honor student. She had hopes and dreams of becoming— she had hopes and dreams of becoming a marine biologist or a veterinarian. // And this man took that away from us.”
((NARRATOR))
Monahan has been charged with murder.
((For radio only: Local sheriff Jeffrey Murphy))
((Jeffrey Murphy, Washington County, NY, Sheriff))
"There was actually no interaction between Mr. Monahan and the occupants of any of the vehicles. They had realized they were at the wrong place. They turned around to leave, and that’s when the shots were fired.”
((NARRATOR))
Eighty-four-year-old Andrew Lester has been charged with first-degree assault for ((mandatory CG: Lee Merritt)) shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who showed up at his front door in Kansas City, Missouri. ((end courtesy)) Lester says he thought the teen was breaking into his house. Yarl’s attorney says Yarl went to the wrong residence by mistake to retrieve his younger siblings.
((For radio only: Yarl family attorney Lee Merritt))
((Lee Merritt, Yarl Family Attorney))
“Mind you, touching the door, in and of itself, wouldn’t be enough to justify the use of deadly force. But Ralph rang the doorbell and waited quietly outside until the door was open. It took a while because obviously Mr. Lester was retrieving his weapon, but Ralph did not try to enter the home.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Mandatory CG: WSOC))
And 6-year-old Kinsley White became a target with her father while trying to retrieve an errant basketball from a neighbor’s yard. Her shooter has been arrested.
((For radio only: Here’s Kinsley))
((Kinsley White, Shooting Victim)) “Why did he shoot my daddy and me?” ((end courtesy))
((NARRATOR))
Gun violence, including unprovoked attacks, is getting worse, say gun control advocates, and stricter laws are needed.
((For radio only: Mike Anestis is the Executive Director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center.))
((Mike Anestis, New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center)) ((SKYPE))
“Some of the policies that have evidence behind them are things that involve addressing what happens at the point of sale or preventing certain folks from getting firearms … and that could be expanded background checks or waiting periods or requiring a license to purchase a firearm.”
((NARRATOR))
Gun advocates bemoan the recent shootings but hold firm to their 2nd Amendment constitutional right to bear firearms.
((For radio only: Lee Williams is chief editor for the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and a board member with pro-gun group Florida Carry, Inc))
[((Lee Williams, Second Amendment Foundation)) ((Skype))
“It’s a pretty good Amendment. Locally, personally, it allows me to have the best firearm that I want to defend myself and my family.”
((NARRATOR)) Gun advocates say Americans to want to protect themselves and not rely solely on police.
Meantime, the shootings don't stop.
((LAUREL BOWMAN, VOA NEWS, WASHINGTON))
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington
Embargo DateApril 25, 2023 19:57 EDT
BylineLaurel Bowman
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America, Voice of America - English
