Victim’s dad says he’s proud of his son

The day after his son was shot in the stomach while getting off a school bus, Calvin Smith said he is ready to forgive.

"I'm not even angry at the kids who did this," Smith said. "I want to pray for them because I'm pretty sure the good Lord has a plan for them."

It's not their fault they don't have good role models in their lives, he said. It's not the school's fault, either. Smith, 53, places blame with their parents and society at large for glorifying violence and not adequately punishing violent crime.

Mark Smith, 17, was one of six people wounded after gunmen opened fire at a bus stop near Alexander and Walnut roads in northeast Las Vegas Tuesday. Mark, who had a portion of his small intestine removed during surgery, and another victim remained hospitalized Wednesday night.

The Mojave High School senior is in stable condition, in high spirits and feeling strong, the boy's father added.

"He's been talking all day long. He woke up and said he was hungry."

Smith expects his son to stay at the hospital for four to five more days.

Mark told his father that he doesn't remember anything from the shooting because it happened so fast.

Nonetheless, the young man said he wasn't afraid to go back to school.

" 'Fear is only in your mind,' that's what he told me," Calvin Smith said.

Smith described his son as a good kid who isn't involved in gangs. He always gets off the bus and goes straight home to play video games. And he picks his friends carefully.

The father didn't have any insight into reports that the gunfire might have been prompted by a dispute between African-Americans and Hispanics.

Mark is biracial. His father is black, his mother is Filipino.

Smith said his son has close friends of Mexican descent.

"The community we live in is a mixture" of ethnicities, he said. "We all get a long very well."

Although Mark plans to follow in his father's foot- steps and join the Air Force after high school graduation, Smith said Tuesday's shooting caused the father and son roles to be reversed.

"He's my hero now," said the casino security guard, who spent more than two decades in the U.S. Air Force serving in Korea and Okinawa, Japan.

"I was in the service for 24 years and I've never been shot at. But, if I had been, I can't say I would have handled it as good as he (Mark) is now."

"On Dec. 11, my son became a man. I'm so impressed with the courage he has displayed."

Contact reporter Beth Walton at Bwalton@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0279.