On the evening of February 2, 2024, a gathering of five boys in the 100 block of North Zelta Street in east Wichita ended when 17-year-old Julio Iram Ruiz Guedea was fatally shot. Ruiz, a junior at Wichita Southeast High School, fired one shot from a 9mm pistol into the ground while another boy, 14 at the time, fired three or four times. Witnesses say the younger teen’s gun swept toward Ruiz as he fired, and multiple bullets struck Ruiz as he attempted to run. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

The Wichita Police Department found the participants knew one another and did not treat the shooting as random. Investigators tested the firearm used by the 14-year-old and reported no mechanical defects that could have caused an unintentional discharge. The motive for the shooting was not clear. Ruiz’s family later set up a GoFundMe campaign and remembered him for his kind heart.

If anyone knew Julio, was at that gathering, or has information about what led to those shots being fired, please share what you know.