Blinded bystander recovering in Calgary hospital

The Brazilian community in Calgary is rallying around a 24-year-old foreign student who was blinded in a downtown shooting.

Jos Ribamar Ribeiro Neto, identifiedby the O Globo newspaper in Brazil,was shot in the face, justbelow the eye, as he and his girlfriend left a restaurant and walked along Centre Street South on Tuesday night.

The couple from Brazil had been in Calgary for just a fewmonths to study English.

"My parents have already spoken with him, but the situation is terrible.Neto is well, is aware, but for what I know, the doctors said he lost an eye and may also lose the other, but is not sure yet," his brother Ravi Ribeiro, 23, told Brazilian media.

He said their parents are making travel and visa arrangements to fly toCalgary as soon as possible.

Police said the bullet that injuredRibeiro was fired during analtercation between a man and two other people in a park down the street. They are still looking for a man who was involved in that incident. Heis described as about six feet tall, with a shaved head and slim build.

The Brazilian student, who is recovering in a Calgary hospital, is now permanently blind.

"This is the kind of news we never expected to receive in Canada," said Deise MacDougall, a board member of the Brazilian Community Association of Alberta. "I believe Brazilians who come to Canada feel very safe, and that was something nobody really expected, and then [they were] disappointed, of course, because [of] Calgary being a safe city."

Photos posted by Ribeiro on a social networking website in August show him and his girlfriend exploring Banff, Lake Louise and the West Edmonton Mall.

Community members are visiting the young man and are scheduled to meet together on Thursday eveningto discuss how to help him financially, including setting up a trust fund.

They are waiting for instructions from Ribeiro about whether he wantsaid toreturn home to Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil or financial assistancefor hisfamily to travel to Calgary.