He was just an out-of-town kid going to school, a quiet, polite 20-year-old originally from Dallas who joined the men's ministry at a Hill District church and called his parents in Texas every day to let them know how he was doing.

In fact, Christopher Evans called home at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday as he prepared to head back to his dorm at Job Corps in Lincoln-Lemington after studying at the library at Community College of Allegheny County.

"He said, 'I love you and I'll call you tomorrow,' " said his father, William Evans, 50, a probation officer.

Less than an hour later he was dead, gunned down by hooded robbers on North Homewood Avenue near the East Busway.

Police said he was an innocent victim of a group of Homewood "punks" who have been preying on people near the busway.

"They're thugs," said Lt. Daniel Herrmann, head of Major Crimes, who was on the scene Tuesday night. "You can quote me on that."

As he had many times before, Mr. Evans had taken a bus from the community college, where he was studying graphic design, and gotten off in Homewood to transfer to another bus to take him to Job Corps.

Another Job Corps student also got off there, headed home. The two were not together, although they did know each other.

As they walked down a set of steps, a group of youths in dark clothing and hoodies accosted them on North Homewood.

Two of them pulled guns. Mr. Evans took a swing at one of them and missed, and the teen then shot him in the back, witnesses said.

He tried to run but collapsed on the street.

The other man, whose wallet and cell phone were stolen, ran home to his mother's house.

Police have arrested four teens -- two 17-year-olds, a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old -- on robbery charges in connection with the victim who survived.

Those teens identified the shooter as a 16-year-old from Homewood.

Police were preparing a warrant last night but hadn't made an arrest.

Detectives said the teens used the cell phone they stole from the first man to make several calls throughout the night, which detectives were able to trace.

Mr. Evans didn't have a cell phone and officers found his wallet still on him. But if he'd had any cash inside, it was gone.

"That's money we sent him," said his father. "They're cowards. That's all they are. He didn't bother anyone. They didn't have to do that. I want them executed."

Mr. Evans grew up on the outskirts of Dallas with his father and mother, Pansy, and his 11-year-old sister, Christine. He graduated from high school and decided to enter Job Corps, an education and vocational training program for poor young people administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.

He first went to Arkansas, then moved to Tulsa before transferring here, in part because the Pittsburgh center program has a college training program.

"We're just devastated," said Wayne Thee, head of the Tulsa center, who helped arrange the transfer to Pittsburgh. "He was a very good student. He was focused on his studies and his training. He was real serious about his future. I'm just torn up over this."

Earl Williams, 46, his mentor at Hillcrest Seventh Day Adventist Church in the Hill District, said Mr. Evans had told him he also wanted out of Tulsa because other young men at the center were bullying him, although Mr. Thee said he knew nothing about that.

In Pittsburgh, he stayed in a dorm with some 350 other students on the Lincoln-Lemington campus, where he kept mostly to himself and studied. His father said he loved to travel, had an interest in geography and eventually wanted to work for the government in the field of satellite imagery.

"He was doing extremely well," said Andrea Drozic, head of the Job Corps center, which will send two employees to Texas with Mr. Evans' body. "He was studious, polite. If you were the principal of a high school you would want every young man to be like Chris."

Mr. Evans came from a Christian family, but he had struggled at times and seemed to find God when he came to Pittsburgh. His friends at church described him as a "work in progress."

Known at church only as "CJ," Mr. Evans played the piano and drums and made an impression with his pleasant demeanor.

Last Sunday, he helped a group of women from the church clean a disabled man's apartment.

Members of the church reacted to his death with a mixture of grief and anger.

"It's just so sad. There is no reason for this. It's a tragedy, but he was a wonderful young man," said Shirley Flowers, 58, of Beltzhoover, the church communications director. "There will be no plea bargains in heaven (for the killer). Everyone is going to get their judgment."

Although Mr. Evans' father said he might not have realized Homewood was dangerous at night, his friends here said he knew the Pittsburgh area well and often transferred buses late at night in Homewood.

He never expressed any fear.

Everyone said he would not have provoked his attackers.

"I think CJ would try to get out of the situation. He was no fighter," said Mr. Williams, a church deacon.

"He would run," said his father. "I always told him, 'A good run is better than a bad stand.' "

But police said Mr. Evans did make a stand, at least briefly, before he was shot.

He will be buried in Texas on Wednesday.

To the surprise of his parents, he was an organ donor. His mother said his eyes, heart and other organs have been harvested to help those in need.

Hillcrest will hold a memorial service for him on Saturday night.

Anyone who wants to send condolences to his family should bring a card to the service or mail one to: Hillcrest Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2340 Wylie Ave., Pittsburgh 15219.