Herve Massaba came to suburban Baltimore from Africa to finish his education.
He reunited with his family, took classes at Baltimore City Community College during the day and worked at night to pay his tuition, his stepmother said.
The 24-year-old native of Cameroon was just blocks from his home in the Randallstown area last week when he was shot in the spine, causing an injury that could leave him paralyzed, police said.
Baltimore County police said they knew of no motive for the shooting. Massaba's stepmother, Georgette Afana, presumes that Massaba was targeted in a robbery, and she gives thanks that he was able to call for help, using his cell phone.
"Suppose he didn't? How long might it have been before we found him? It may have saved him," Afana said during a news conference at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where her stepson remains in critical condition.
Afana, 36, is a nursing assistant who emigrated to the United States about seven years ago, and police are asking for the public's help in identifying suspects in the shooting.
Massaba, who wants to be an electrical engineer like his father, came to the United States about 15 months ago to continue his studies, Afana said.
He worked evenings at a security firm. He was in the first block of Valdivia Court, on his way home from a bus stop on Rolling Road, about 11:30 p.m. Thursday when he was shot in the upper torso, according to police.
Before her stepson collapsed, Afana said, he used his cell phone to call his father and say that he had seen four men. But in the short conversation, her stepson did not say why he might have been attacked.
The suspects were described by police only as four males, 17 to 27 years old.
Besides school and work, Massaba spends his time playing soccer video games and chess on the computer. He has not been living in the area long enough to have many friends, Afana said.
Cpl. Michael Hill, a county police spokesman, said the shooting occurred in an area that does not have a high crime rate. But Afana said she is worried about the young people she sees standing around with no purpose.
"We need more security in the area," she said.
Afana said that she is optimistic about Massaba's recovery. He is able to nod to respond to questions, and he has indicated he feels pain, she said. He has squeezed her hand and recently waved goodbye, she said.
"I believe God is the one who made us all," Afana said, adding, "When things like this happen, I believe he is able to change them."
She said she is not bitter about the turn of events in her family's new home. "I still think America is a great place," she said.
Anyone with information about the July 5 shooting is asked to call police at 410-307-2020 or, for a possible $2,000 reward, Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-756-2587.
laura.barnhardt@baltsun.com