Blinded man speaks at dangerous offender hearing for man who shot him
Posted May 11, 2010 2:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Brazilian student Jose Neto has given his victim impact statement at the dangerous offender hearing for the man who shot him.
The 26-year-old was shot in the face in downtown Calgary in September, 2008 after Roland Warawa pulled a gun in an unrelated altercation nearby.
A stray bullet hit Neto in the eye, but the injury left him entirely unable to see.
Warawa pleaded guilty to the shooting in May of last year.
Neto, who had come to Calgary to get his business degree, says the whole ordeal has been extremely hard for him and his fiancee, but he says he has no reason not to forgive Warawa.
“I want to say that whatever happens with him, whatever they decide to do, my life is going to be the same. So, if he goes to jail… I’m going to be blind,” says Neto.
In his statement to the court, Neto says all he can remember from the night of the shooting are the sounds of sirens and the screams of his fiancee.
Since becoming blind, he says he’s suffered from nightmares and insomnia and has had to learn everything over again.
Throughout the statement, Warawa showed no emotion, often looking at the ground.
The 31-year-old claimed to a social worker that he fired the gun as a warning shot.
Warawa has a lengthy history of anger issues and drug use.
