Wounded student not mad at U.

Senior John LaBombard said he is doing well after being shot in the leg Sunday. You have to take it all in stride. That's how College senior John La Bombard feels about being hit in the thigh by a stray bullet Sunday afternoon while working in the Blauhaus at 33rd and Chestnut streets. The 22-year-old Alpha Tau Omega brother and member of the wrestling team described himself as "completely fine" and joked about the incident yesterday in a telephone interview from his home in Queensbury, N.Y. La Bombard seemed hardly fazed by the incident. He also does not blame the University for Sunday's deadly shooting outside the Palestra that killed one man and wounded two others besides La Bombard. La Bombard was released from Allegheny University Hospitals-Hahnemann Monday afternoon after being treated for the gunshot wound. He is presently on crutches, and he expects to return to campus after spring break. "I just want to go back to school and graduate," he said. La Bombard, who is studying to be an architect, was working on a Design of the Environment project at about 4 p.m. Sunday when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Initially, he though a table saw had caused a projectile of wood to hit him. "I didn't see anything? I thought I got hit by a piece of wood? [I] just saw a pool of blood coming out of my leg," said La Bombard. And when the Design of the Environment major -- lying immobile in a pool of his own blood -- realized he had been shot, he began to make jokes, telling several friends in the room that he "hopes he can get an extension on this project." He added that he was not angry about the incident, especially since the bullet missed the bone and major arteries in his leg. "I'm just glad it didn't hit my penis," he said. La Bombard complained, however, that he was the last person paramedics attended to at the scene of the crime. He estimated that an ambulance arrived about five minutes after he was shot. "I was getting worried because it took forever for the freakin' ambulance to get to me," he said. And although he was shot following the basketball tournament, La Bombard said he believes the University should invite the Philadelphia Public League boys basketball championship back to the Palestra next year. Police investigators have said the shootings were unrelated to the game. "The University should? help out the community by sharing our facilities," he said. "It's just a shame that those kids use the Penn campus as a neutral battleground to shoot each other," he added. And La Bombard said he does not blame the person who shot him, noting that "it's not the kid's fault, it's the socioeconomic issue of inner-city kids and what goes on." Police have yet to arrest a suspect in the shooting. Anthony Davis, 22, of North Philadelphia, was the sole fatality. But La Bombard's close friend Jeremy Bailer, a College senior, said he was angry that the University invited the basketball championships back to Penn this year after gunshots were fired after last year's games as well. "I'm just hoping administrators can see the trend and they won't invite the tournament back next year," Bailer said. "This kind of thing scares me, that fights and riots like this can break out with Penn hosting events," the fellow ATO brother said, stressing his fear of the University playing host to the Penn relays in April. The annual event has also spurred security problems on and around campus. La Bombard said he still feels safe at Penn, adding that "the University has done a lot to handle the crime issue here." "I actually feel bad for the University, because this is just an unfortunate incident where the Philly natives came onto our campus and used it as a battleground," he said. This weekend, La Bombard -- who said he was still fatigued by painkillers -- plans to attend the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships at Lehigh University, adding that he "doesn't care if he's in a wheelchair." La Bombard wrestled at Penn for four seasons.

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