An alarming shooting trend is emerging in 2023: victims or shooters arriving at a mistaken location.
Since January, there have been three high-profile shootings involving victims or officers arriving at the wrong address. In April alone, there have been three such shootings.
EIGHTY-FOUR=YEAR-OLD WHITE MAN CHARGED IN SHOOTING OF BLACK TEENAGER IN KANSAS CITY
As of April 18, there have been 12,487 gun violence deaths in 2023. Of those, 5,359 were marked as homicides. More than 440 victims were age 12-17, and 448 shootings in 2023 have been unintentional.
Here are three shootings in the last month that left victims either dead or seriously injured.
New York, April 17
A 20-year-old woman was shot by a homeowner in upstate New York after she arrived at the wrong address, according to police. She was looking for a friend's house.
Kaylin Gillis, 20, from Schuylerville, New York, was in a car with three other people when they pulled into the wrong driveway in Hebron, according to a report.
"While they were leaving the residence after they determined that they were at the wrong house, the subject came out on his porch for whatever reason and fired two shots, one of which struck the vehicle that Kaylin was in," Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said during a press conference on Monday.
Because the people were in a rural area with little cellphone reception, the driver eventually called 911 at about 9:50 p.m. on Monday. Police arrived at the car, which had arrived near Salem, and performed CPR on Gillis before she died.
Kevin Monahan, 65, was taken into custody by officers after close to an hour of back-and-forth talking. Monahan refused to come outside and talk with patrols, according to CBS News.
Murphy said investigators believe Monahan is a laborer and lived in his home in Hebron for "quite a while." Monahan is charged with second-degree murder.
"There was clearly no threat from anybody in the vehicle," Murphy said. "There was no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened."
Kansas City, April 13
A 16-year-old teenager from Kansas City, Missouri, was shot in the head and arm by a homeowner after he went to the wrong location to pick up his family members.
Ralph Yarl was shot above the left eye and in the upper right arm after he arrived at 115th Street, not 115th Terrace, to pick up his younger siblings on the night of April 13.
Yarl's family and attorneys said that Yarl arrived at the home and either rang the doorbell or knocked on the door and that the homeowner, Andrew Lester, shot Yarl through the glass door. Yarl had not crossed the threshold of the door, according to prosecutor Zachary Thompson.
The 16-year-old walked out of the hospital on Sunday after undergoing surgery for his wounds, his family announced. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Lester, 84, is charged with assault in the first degree, which carries a life sentence in prison. He is also charged with armed criminal action, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
"There was a racial component to the case,” Thompson said.
Lester was not in custody when prosecutors announced the charges. He was taken into custody on April 13 and was released a few hours later on April 14. His short detention sparked heavy backlash from the community and Yarl's family.
A warrant has been issued for Lester's arrest, and the bail is set at $200,000, Thompson said.
New Mexico, April 5
Officers from the Farmington Police Department were responding to a domestic violence call on April 5 when they arrived at the wrong address.
An officer shot and killed Robert Dotson, 52, after responding to a report. The officer entered Dotson's home instead of the reporting party's.
The address police were supposed to go to was 5308 Valley View Ave. Instead, they entered 5305 Valley View Ave. Google Maps shows the homes being diagonal from each other across the street.
Farmington officers knocked on the door of the wrong address, and when there was no answer, they called dispatch to ask the person who reported the domestic violence incident to come to the door.
At that point, Dotson arrived at his front door with a handgun, which prompted at least one officer to exchange gunfire. Body camera footage shows that Dotson did not shoot first.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
After Dotson dropped to the ground, his wife began shooting, not realizing the people outside were officers. At one point during the exchange, Dotson's daughter called the dispatch center saying her father needed help and that she heard gunfire. She and two other children were home at the time of the shooting.
The three officers involved in the shooting have not been identified and were placed on administrative leave. The New Mexico State Police is investigating the shooting.