Paramedics arrived at the scene and Yarl was rushed to the hospital for surgery. Against all odds, the teenager pulled through but still has a long road of recovery ahead of him.
Lester, the suspect, was arrested four days later after local authorities received overwhelming backlash from outraged citizens across the country.
“I didn’t do anything but hold a kid’s hand so he wouldn’t feel alone. He had just gotten shot twice; he had a hole in the side of his head,” Lynch, who did not consider himself a hero, said of the traumatic event. “That kid is tougher than I am.”
“No one deserves to lay there like that,” he added. “He hasn’t even begun to live his life yet. He didn’t deserve to get shot.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Yarl’s medical expenses.