WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - Tessa Roberts has lived in a west Wichita neighborhood near 21st and Maize for nearly three decades. Every year, she looks forward to one thing.

"Every spring, we just really enjoy seeing the beautiful little babies," said Roberts.

She's talking about a family of geese that live near the neighborhood lake with little goslings that are only about two weeks old.

But she says something terrible happened Monday evening while she was on her walk.

"All of a sudden, I hear pop pop pop. One flies up in the air, drops on the ground and starts flailing," said Roberts.

In the middle of the common area of the neighborhood that's surrounded by homes, Roberts says someone started shooting at the family of geese she was standing next to, hitting one of the goslings. She says after fighting for its life, flailing on the ground for a few minutes, the little baby died. Two days later, it's body is still there.

"It was horrific. It was like a nightmare. And it was like, this can't actually be happening. How can somebody hurt a beautiful, innocent creature that's not doing anything? It's it's just living life," said Roberts.

The Wichita Police Department says investigators are trying to figure out who is responsible, noting that the geese are protected under federal law.

With the mom and dad geese working hard to protect the six helpless goslings they have left, Roberts says her hope is to bring awareness that even if you don't like the geese, authorities can charge you with a felony if you kill them.

"Look at alternative methods versus trying to hurt a creature. You can get a goose out of your yard by making noise. People sometimes use lasers. They're very skittish. You don't have to shoot and kill them," said Roberts.

If you're caught killing a Canada goose, you could face six months to 2 years in prison and fines up to $100,000.