Police: South Wichita restaurant owner killed by parolee rummaging through trash

A 42-year-old south Wichita restaurant owner was the victim in a fatal shooting Thursday afternoon, Wichita police said Friday.

Oscar Acosta of Wichita was shot one time outside of Birrieria Tito restaurant, which is near Hydraulic and Wassall, and made it back inside before dying from his injuries, Capt. Jason Stephens said. Police arrested 26-year-old Adrian Nicholas Zongker a couple of blocks west of the restaurant. He was booked into Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon as well as on a state warrant in a separate case, records show.

Officers were called about the shooting at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Zongker was rummaging through a trash can at the business and was asked to do that outside, Stephens said. Outside, he dumped the trashcan and started to argue with an employee, he said.

“The victim then at that point came out and was subsequently shot by the suspect,” Stephens said. “The suspect fled the area on foot.”

He said witnesses helped steer arriving officers to Zongker’s location. He was found in possession of a gun, Stephens said.

Zongker, who was paroled in September, is a transient, according to police.

Zongker has five prior convictions, all in Sedgwick County, for charges that include criminal possession of a firearm, battery and aggravated assault, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records. He had more than 50 disciplinary reports during his time in Kansas prisons that date back to October 2015, records show.

The killing is at least the fifth homicide of 2021.

This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 8:45 AM.