DES MOINES, Iowa — Wesley Armstrong and his aunt Beth Kenny were running errands this week when they came upon a gruesome scene in Des Moines.
16-year-old Brian Schnathorst was arrested and charged with Attempted Murder and Willful Injury in a Wednesday stabbing at a Subway restaurant.
Schnathorst is being held on $500,000 bond. Police say Connor Kernes, the 18-year-old stabbed, is in the hospital in critical condition.
Police say the two know each other, but a motive has not been confirmed.
Armstrong told Local 5 he and his aunt had just parked near the Subway when an employee of the store ran outside yelling for help and saying someone had been stabbed.
The two then provided aid to Kernes with Kenny tending his wound, he added.
"It was a bit disturbing seeing somebody … with such an injury," Armstrong said. "This was on a whole other level of gruesome. I felt terrible for him."
His aunt was using only tissues at times to apply pressure to the wound, according to Armstrong.
RELATED: Des Moines police arrest suspect, identify victim in Wednesday stabbing at Subway restaurant
"The wound in his chest was really bad," Armstrong said. "Luckily my aunt was an Airforce medical engineer search and rescue, EMT, so she quickly you know, used her specialties to, as much as she could, apply pressure."
Armstrong said at one point, the Subway restaurant worker and another woman who came to the store a few minutes after they started helping the victim were both screaming, so he did his best to calm them down.
Once that happened, he said the employee did join his aunt in applying pressure on the wound.
Although Armstrong described the situation as scary, he's glad they were there to help when they did.
"I couldn't imagine why someone would do this," Armstrong said.
Armstrong and his aunt have connected with the victim's family on Facebook and have plans to meet in the future sometime soon.