INDIANAPOLIS -- The family of a man critically injured in a robbery on Indianapolis' east side late Sunday is asking for any witnesses to come forward.

Gabriel Jordan, 33, told Indianapolis police that he was walking his dog on Clyde Avenue, near the 5000 block of English Avenue, at about 11:30 p.m. when two men robbed him, shooting him in the back as he tried to get away.

"A couple of guys jumped him and robbed him. He struggled a bit," Mike Jordan, the man's father, told 6News' Jennifer Carmack.

Police said the family's dog apparently went back home after the shooting, prompting his wife to go looking for him. She found officers at the crime scene.

"To have this happen is tragic and a senseless, cowardly act by two individuals" said Lt. Jeff Duhamell.

Jordan was taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital in critical condition, and doctors said he will likely be paralyzed from the waist down, family members told Carmack.

Mike Jordan said his son's life was thriving, with a 7-month-old son, a job as a wine steward at the Fall Creek Place shop Goose the Market and plans to open a restaurant near Broad Ripple.

"For those responsible, how could you?" he said. "What we need is people to just step up. If anybody knows anything about these guys, step up."

Police don't have a detailed description of the assailants, but said they got away with about $20. Police asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.