Weapons & Guns

Ralph Yarl is alive today thanks, in part, to the actions of 2 neighbors who came to his assistance minutes after Andrew Lester shot the 16-year-old boy twice -- and one of those neighbors is tearfully sharing the traumatic experience.

Jodi Rae joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live," and was almost immediately choked up remembering when Ralph banged on her front door, desperately seeking help. She says she couldn't see out her front door, and was uncertain about what was going on outside.

She had not heard the gunshots, but says it was clear Ralph was in dire need of assistance ... so, she decided to call 911. The operator told her there was an active shooter in the area, and advised Jodi not to open her door.

This definitely created a massive dilemma for Jodi ... one that brought her to tears as she told us about it -- she wanted to make sure her own son remained safe in their home, but also wanted to help Ralph, who she could see through her window falling to his knees.

Jodi says once she saw another neighbor walking outside, she figured the danger must have passed ... and immediately ran to Ralph's side. When she saw pools of blood outside her door, she realized the teen had been shot.

The story gets even more gripping and emotional at this point ... Jodi says she and a male neighbor used a towel to apply pressure to Ralph's head wound, held his hand and talked to him about school ... anything to keep his mind off the pain he was clearly suffering.

She fought through tears to tell us what Ralph told them about getting shot. She says she's had very limited contact with the shooter, Lester, since moving to the Kansas City neighborhood last year.

Jodi says she just kept thinking, "That's somebody's son," and knew she had to do something to help him. Sadly, she says there's been some backlash against her and other neighbors ... people who are, incorrectly, assuming the community did nothing to help Ralph.

While that's clearly not what happened, Jodi says she's mostly concerned with Ralph's recovery. She says, "Nothing compares to what that young man is living through every day."

Mikey Williams -- one of the best high school basketball players in the country -- just pled not guilty to the six felony charges he was hit with in his shooting case.

Troy Owens, the attorney for the San Ysidro H.S. star point guard, entered the pleas for the Univ. of Memphis commit at Williams' arraignment hearing in San Diego on Thursday morning.

During the proceedings, which Williams attended remotely, a judge ordered the basketball player to stay away from the alleged victims in the case. Williams was also ordered to not be in possession of guns or ammunition.

Williams was charged with five counts of assault with a firearm and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle ... after authorities allege he was involved in an altercation near his home in eastern San Diego on March 27.

Police say someone opened fire on a car that had five people in it -- including three minors -- following an argument at a nearby home. No one was injured.

Williams was arrested on April 13 over his alleged role in it all ... and after he posted bond, Owens said in a statement the hooper "maintains his innocence."

Williams is due back in court for another hearing on the matter in June.

Meanwhile, Williams' future college coach -- Tigers head man Penny Hardaway -- told media members on Wednesday Memphis has not cut ties with the star guard over the arrest.

Alec Baldwin has been vindicated in the "Rust" shooting case ... at least criminally, because the New Mexico prosecutors will drop the involuntary manslaughter case against him ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

We're told Baldwin has been informed the case against him is over. Attorneys Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas were expected to wage legal war in less than 2 weeks ... but the D.A. blinked in a big way.

Frankly, it makes a lot of sense. The D.A. has charged armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with involuntary manslaughter, presumably because she's the expert, so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense why an actor would double-check her work.

Beyond that, although Baldwin is an executive producer on the movie, he's not the one making day-to-day decisions.

As you know, the accidental shooting took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The case against Baldwin will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be filed in the future, but that seems to be little more than a face-saving move by the D.A.

Spiro and attorney Luke Nikas tell TMZ ... "We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident."

The spate of homeowner shootings got even more insane after a 6-year-old and her parents were shot by a neighbor who was pissed off because their basketball rolled onto his property.

Robert Louis Singletary went ballistic Tuesday in North Carolina ... apparently angry at a bunch of kids who were playing basketball nearby. The ball bounced onto Singletary's yard, and he responded by running down the street with a gun and shooting at a neighbor.

Singletary wasn't done ... he started shooting at the little girl and her parents. The girl, Kinsley White, was grazed on her face by a bullet, and her parents were struck as well.  Kinsley's dad, William White, was hit in the back and critically injured. White apparently stepped into the line of fire to protect his daughter.

Kinsley told a local TV outlet WSOC-TV, "Why did you shoot my daddy and me? Why did you shoot a kid's dad?"

Singletary has been charged with 4 counts of first-degree attempted murder, among other charges.

The white geriatric gunman who shot and nearly killed a 16-year-old Black youth in Missouri is a Trump supporter who has been radicalized by racist conservative views in recent years ... at least according to his grandson.

Klint Ludwig was on CNN Thursday, railing on his 84-year-old grandfather, Andrew Lester, who stands accused of shooting Ralph Yarl outside Lester's Kansas City home last week.

Ludwig said he was "disgusted" by Lester's alleged attack on Yarl, calling it a "horrible tragedy." Ludwig also said he was 100 percent in Yarl's corner.

Don Lemon asked Ludwig why he was speaking out against his own grandfather. Ludwig responded, "It was right thing to do," adding, "This country it happens over and over again where people get away with killing unarmed innocent Black people."

He continued, "People need to speak out and not make any excuses for this kind of behavior and violence."

Ludwig went even deeper, accusing his grandfather of being a "stock American Christian male" with "racist tendencies."

Ludwig also stated as Lester got older, he became conspiratorial and would say "weird racist things," which seemed to be the result of watching conservative media outlets, such as FOX News, all day long. Ludwig went on to say Lester is a Trump supporter and, within the last five years or so, he became radicalized with these toxic views.

As we reported, Yarl mistakenly arrived at Lester's home in Kansas City last week while trying to pick up his younger siblings, who were staying at a different address.

After Yarl rang the bell, Lester answered the door while armed with a loaded revolver. Lester then opened fire through a glass door, hitting Yarl in the head and then firing a second time, hitting him in the right arm. At no point did Yarl step foot inside Lester's house.

Yarl was rushed to a hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries, but, miraculously, he survived. In fact, his attorney, Lee Merritt, posted a photo of the two back at Ralph's home Wednesday.

According to court documents, Lester told police he spotted Yarl yanking on an outer door handle and thought the teen was trying to break into his home. That's why, Lester says, he shot Yarl.

But Yarl allegedly gave a different story to investigators, telling them that he never pulled on the door handle and that he was standing patiently waiting for someone to answer the bell he rang.

Suge Knight's name is a constant topic on hip hop podcasts these days, but the incarcerated ex-music mogul is about to tell his life story his way, and says it'll be nothing but raw, uncut facts!!!

TMZ Hip Hop spoke to the Death Row Records founder from the CA state penitentiary where he's doing 28 years for voluntary manslaughter -- and also plotting out a 10-season TV series on BLK Prime chronicling his life before during and after launching the legendary label home to Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

Even though he's behind bars, Suge told us he plans to provide voice-over for the series like Ray Liotta did as Henry Hill in "Goodfellas" -- and each season will chronicle a different era of his life.

Season 1 will dive headfirst into Pac's stint at Death Row until his death; season 2 will focus on Biggie's presence in the Death Row/Bad Boy beef; season 3 will be about Suge's friendship turned rivalry with Diddy; seasons 4 and 5 will tackle Dre and Snoop respectively.

Death Row's reputation as a hostile work environment has been discussed for years and Suge, being the big boss that he is, couldn't deny his office had its fair share of physical dustups.

According to Suge, he intentionally brought the competitiveness he learned playing football to his office space to make Death Row as tough as its name. He says Pac and Snoop had no problem thriving in the gangsta environment but does acknowledge those crazy times took their toll on the company.

The 5 other planned seasons dig into the N.W.A-era and Eazy-E ... plus the East and West coast tensions, the Crips and Bloods and, of course, Suge's trial and conviction.

The show will begin filming this summer and stream exclusively in the fall on BLK Prime ... a network Suge promises will leave his story intact, no matter how brutal it comes across.

The Menendez brothers getting a new trial because an ex-member of Menudo is accusing their father of rape is no slam dunk ... it's more of a Hail Mary, according to a criminal defense lawyer.

Attorney Alan Jackson joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and we asked him what Lyle and Erik Menendez should be expecting from Menudo member Roy Rosselló's explosive revelation about their father, Jose Menendez.

Alan believes the chances are remote the Menendez brothers get a new trial based on Roy's accusation.

Still, Alan says Lyle and Erik's defense team will try to get the accusation before a judge and present it as new evidence in hope of overturning their convictions -- because even if it's a long shot, it's something.

The way Alan sees it ... Roy's claim is unlikely to change anything for Lyle and Erik, who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents, despite arguing their father sexually molested them for years and they only killed him out of fear.

Alan says Roy's accusation -- that music executive Jose drugged and sexually assaulted him in the Menendez family's New Jersey home -- isn't directly connected to the evidence pointing to the brothers murdering their parents with shotguns.

Joe Mixon appeared in an Ohio courtroom on Wednesday to fight back in his aggravated menacing case ... pleading not guilty to the misdemeanor charge he was hit with earlier this month.

The NFL star wore a white button-down shirt and dark pants for the occasion ... and said nothing to reporters neither during his arrival nor during his exit at his arraignment hearing in Hamilton County.

During the proceedings, Mixon entered his plea ... and his bond was set at $10,000.

As we reported, Mixon was initially charged with aggravated menacing on Feb. 2 -- after prosecutors said he threatened to shoot a woman during a road rage incident on Jan. 21.

The charge was dismissed after officials said they needed "additional investigation" -- but it was refiled on April 7 after authorities said they found new evidence in the case.

Tyre Nichols' family is suing over his fatal beating at the hands of Memphis police ... drawing parallels with what happened to Emmett Till.

According to a new federal lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Tyre's family compares his death to the infamous 1955 killing of Emmett, saying Tyre, like Till, suffered a beating from the "hands of a modern-day lynch mob."

The Nichols family is going after the City of Memphis, Police Chief Cerelyn Davis and the officers involved in Tyre's brutal beating.

The suit claims Tyre's death was the "direct and foreseeable product of the unconstitutional policies, practices, customs, and deliberate indifference" from Memphis and its police chief.

As you know ... Tyre died in January, three days after a brutal beating at the hand of five Memphis police officers, all of whom were fired and charged with second-degree murder.

Tyre's family is also suing a sixth officer who was fired but not charged, plus three members of the Memphis Fire Department who responded to the scene but allegedly failed to render aid to Tyre.

Alec Baldwin and the cast and crew for the "Rust" movie will all be back on set tomorrow, more than a year after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed during production.

A spokesperson for the film tells CNN everything will be back underway Thursday at the Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana -- a place meant to honor Halyna's legacy.

"Rust" originally began filming on set in New Mexico back in 2021 before Halyna was fatally shot on set with a prop gun Baldwin was holding. Director Joel Souza was also shot and injured... bringing production to a screeching halt.

It wasn't until earlier this year the production company behind the movie locked in a new church as the backdrop for the film ... which BTW, looks really similar to the original one.

As we told you, Matthew Hutchins, Halyna's widower, reached an undisclosed settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against the actor and production companies back in October ... greenlighting filming for the movie to resume with the original principal players and Matthew as the Executive Producer.

Ralph Yarl -- the teenager who survived a close-range shooting which may have been racially motivated, is set to meet with the mother of Ahmaud Arbery ... TMZ has learned.

Ahmaud's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, tells us she asked attorney Lee Merritt -- who reps both her and Yarl's family -- if he could broker a face-to-face so that she could lend the Yarls some moral support during this difficult time ... as she went through something similar.

She says Lee thought it was a wonderful idea, and the wheels are already in motion for a sit-down between them in the near future -- although it's unclear exactly when. As you can imagine, Ralph is still recovering from being shot in the head ... allegedly at the hands of Andrew Lester, who was slapped with criminal charges this week and who's been arrested.

You might've heard ... Ralph was apparently fired upon last week after he rang Lester's doorbell -- mistakenly thinking it was the house his younger siblings were at. His family and family attorneys believe race was a factor ... something investigators are looking into now.

In any case ... Wanda says she thinks she can offer some good advice to both Ralph and his loved ones right now -- telling us that the loss of her son, Ahmaud, came under very similar circumstances ... which, sadly, had a much more tragic result.

She says she wants to let them know that they have her support and that they can get through this trying time ... a road she herself has obviously gone down of late. Wanda tells us she'll be praying for the Yarls through all this too ... and hopes they receive justice.

BTW, Ralph's story is already getting national attention ... including from the White House, which we're told has already reached out to invite him for an in-person visit once he's ready.

Russia's men's basketball team will not be allowed to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the International Basketball Federation ruled Tuesday ... as the killing in Ukraine continues.

FIBA decided to not permit the Russian squad from participating in upcoming qualifying tournaments ... meaning the team will not play in the Olympics.

Bulgaria, the next highest-ranked team, will be given Russia's place.

It's not exactly a shocker ... FIBA suspended Russia from competing shortly after the attack on Ukraine in early 2022, when President Vladimir Putin's forces invaded the sovereign country. The fighting continues to this day.

So, the decision was expected, but nothing was official until today.

FYI, it's not that the Russian women have been granted permission ... they already missed out on qualifying due to their team being suspended over the war.

Despite today's ruling (and similar rulings made by other governing bodies), individual Russian athletes can still compete, but they can't rep Russia (they're essentially neutral -- countryless).

Ultimately, 12 teams will make the Olympic tourney and compete for gold ... but Russia won't be one of those teams.

The family of Ralph Yarl says justice can be served by locking up the 84-year-old shooter for the rest of his days ... and forcing him to financially support the Kansas City teen's future.

Ralph's attorney Lee Merritt tells TMZ ... the Yarl family sees life in prison as the appropriate punishment for Andrew Lester, the man charged with shooting Ralph after he mistakenly rang Lester's doorbell. He also says all of Lester's assets should go into a college fund for Ralph.

On top of that, the family's calling on Missouri to implement more robust hate crime laws that could be applied in situations like Ralph's. They also want the DOJ to perform a review of the KC Police Department's to assess any possible internal racial biases in its practices, noting they don't think the department took the incident seriously enough at first.

As you know, Ralph was shot twice by Lester last week, including once in the head -- and police say Lester claims he thought Ralph was trying to break into his home. Lester surrendered to cops Tuesday, the day after he was charged with 2 felonies -- assault in the first degree and armed criminal action.

Merritt says Ralph's head injury damaged the part of his brain that handles emotions, so he's been struggling with controlling them since the ordeal.

We're also told the family's looking at the possibility of a lawsuit against Lester as well as the city ... because they had to fight so hard just to get Lester charged and arrested.

Attorney Ben Crump says it's a true miracle Ralph Yarl is alive after the Black 16-year-old was shot in Kansas City after ringing the wrong doorbell -- but he adds, the charges against the shooter point to a larger problem in America.

Crump joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" to talk all about the aftermath of 84-year-old Andrew Lester shooting Yarl in the head and near the chest-area ... after he had accidentally gone to the wrong house to pick up his younger siblings.

Ben tells us, it is a blessing Yarl survived and is in stable condition and recovering at home with his family. He adds, he hopes Ralph has a full recovery -- mentally and physically -- from all the trauma he's endured.

However, Crump was less hopeful about the shooter being held accountable. FYI, Lester was charged with 2 felonies on Monday - assault in the 1st degree and armed criminal action but he was NOT charged with attempted murder.

Crump tells us prosecutors say they charged Lester with the most they believe would result in a conviction ... meanwhile, he says Black folks are charged to the max and it's not a question about whether they would get convicted.

He also notes police questioned Lester for 20 minutes and let him go to sleep the same night -- something he calls "unbelievable". BC says we never see this happen when races are reversed.

Celebs and folks all over have rallied behind Ralph and his family ... donating to his GoFundMe and showing their support. However Ben says America has a long way to go.

In his eyes, the country has a larger issue with using guns to handle differences. He says we shoot first and ask questions later ... whether it's police or citizens.

Megan Thee Stallion says she's closing the chapter on her Tory Lanez memories once and for all, now that he's been served justice.

For the first and (supposedly) last time, Megan jotted down her thoughts in a new op-ed for Elle on Tuesday ... lamenting the public humiliation she suffered, and her current road to recovery.

Megan says she's no victim, but couldn't ignore the trauma induced when Tory laughed, joked and pushed false narratives in the public ahead of their trial, which concluded last December with Tory's conviction.

She called the shooting "her most traumatic experience" in her 28 years, and lashed out at unnamed players in the music biz who threw sneak disses at her ... or accused her of lying about the shooting.

The "Savage" rapper says she hopes her words touch all past and future victims of traumatic experiences, and doesn't plan on rehashing the shooting timeline any further ... for the sake of her mental health.

Megan also thanked her most dedicated "Hottie" fans who showed up to court for moral support, and says she's just been kicking it with her manager T. Farris and has banging new music fans will love.

Ralph Yarl, the Black 16-year-old who was shot in Kansas City after accidentally going to the wrong house, is getting an outpouring of support -- financial and otherwise -- from celebs raising awareness of the teen's tragic story.

Ralph's aunt set up a GoFundMe after last week's shooting, and it's quickly received more than $1.8 million in donations -- and that includes a $1K donation from Julianne Hough and another $1K from comedian Lil Rel Howery.

Christina Ricci and author Pamela Meyer each sent $500 to the fund, and a whopping $5K donation came through from Guy Oseary, Madonna's talent manager.

For those unaware, Ralph was picking up his younger siblings Thursday when he accidentally rang the doorbell of the wrong house. Cops say the homeowner, Andrew Lester, opened the door and shot Ralph twice -- once in the head, according to the Yarl family.

Celebs have also amplified awareness about Ralph's horrific shooting by sharing the link to his fundraiser. Justin Timberlake, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Hudson and Halle Berry are among those who've posted about the case.

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes also sent thoughts and prayers to Ralph ... and called for the justice system to do what's right.