KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- According to police, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, a 19-year-old Kansas City art student was brutally attacked after he left his job at the Loose Mansion to walk home to his apartment.

He was walking south on Warwick from Armour Boulevard, police said. When he was just south of 39th Street, police said a black male came down from the front steps of a house and approached the student.

According to police, the man complained of society keeping him down, and then asked the student if he would like to purchase drugs. The student said no and kept walking, police said. The victim never reported seeing a gun, police said.

However, when the student reached 40th and McGee streets, the student felt a blast to his head, police said. He was shot eight times in the head and legs, losing an eye in the attack, police said. Against all odds, the student survived.

As the student screamed for help, neighbors saw the suspect running west on 40th Street before turning north on Warwick, police said. Several neighbors called 911, and one went outside to perform first aid on the student who was lying on the street bleeding, police said.

Police are asking for the public's assistance in locating the culprit. The man is described as being a slim, light-skinned black male between the ages of 23 and 31 years old. Police said who was wearing a red hat and a dark jacket at the time of the attack, and wore his hair in corn rows or braids.

If you have any information regarding this case, please call the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hot Hine at 816-474-TIPS (8477).