September 7, 2010

Wichita Police said two teenagers have been arrested in connection with a Labor Day shooting.

Police said two 19-year-olds were arrested a short time after the shooting and are being questioned.

It happened around 12:45 Monday afternoon near Grove and 10th Street. A man in his twenties or thirties was simply painting a house when neighbors say someone shot him several times in the back.

"Just simply painting a house and then somebody drives by and just shoots him? I mean what are they thinking?," said Mona Stewart, who knows the victim.

Stewart grew up on the block where the shooting happened, so she knows the victim who lives just a few houses from her childhood home. She watched him grow up and says he's a young man who's always there to lend a helping hand.

"Amos didn't deserve that, he did not deserve that," said Stewart.

Stewart says the shooting pierced an otherwise pleasant holiday weekend, putting a heartbreaking twist on Stewart's family reunion. Because Stewart says many people who have lived on the block for years are like family.

"Just saw him, just yesterday standing out here. So it brings tears to my eyes to even think that," said Stewart.

As the young man who was shot while painting a house remains in the hospital, those who know him say this Labor Day violence is senseless.

"It's really a sad thing that happened, it's really really sad," said Stewart.