A Family’s Shattering Experience : Girl, 8, has glass removed from her eye after shot pierced a bus window--and parents’ security.

Naomi Barrett’s swollen eyes began to open a bit Saturday morning, and for the first time since she was struck by shards of glass during a shooting on a county bus, the 8-year-old said she could look skyward.

“I can see better already,” the shy second-grader said Saturday after a shiny sliver was extracted from her left eye at an Anaheim Hills clinic. “My eye hurt when I looked up near the sun. It’s better.”

Naomi and three family members were injured Wednesday when a .22-caliber rifle shot struck a crowded Orange County Transportation Authority bus on La Palma Avenue. Two boys, ages 14 and 15, were arrested in the hours after the incident as the suspected shooters.

At first, police and an Anaheim Memorial Hospital spokeswoman said the family’s injuries were merely superficial, but Naomi’s wounds were worse than officials initially suspected. Dr. Arthur D. Charap said the girl’s quiet ways led to the early optimism.

“She should have been screaming bloody murder when she came in here, but she was just so brave and, I think, in shell shock,” Charap said as he peered into the girl’s eyes Saturday. “And the glass is hard to see in there, like water on water, so they missed it at first.”

Charap compared Naomi’s injuries to those seen among crashed fighter pilots, who get slivers and dust-sized fragments of glass in their eyes. Her right eye has a surface cut and cornea divots from the glass, while other slivers sliced deeper into her left cornea. The child’s face is speckled with cuts and bruises.

Naomi, her hands quaking and eyes watering, jumped and squealed Saturday as Charap removed the largest and most worrisome of the fragments. Still, the long-term prognosis is not clear. Charap said he is concerned that a weakening of vision in her left eye may cause Naomi some depth-perception problems as she grows older.

The Barrett family was relieved to hear of the quick arrests in the case, and they said Saturday that Anaheim police detectives told them the suspects apparently fired the rifle at the passing bus from their home.

“I’d like the boys to see pictures of Naomi’s face, so they understand,” said her father, Isiah Barrett, who still has shards of glass embedded in his chin. “If they think this is a joke or a prank, maybe that would help them understand.”

The shooting has made a tough situation even more difficult for the Barrett family. They were en route to apply for government assistance when the shooting occurred about 9:40 a.m. Wednesday, and they were aboard the bus because their car broke down several weeks ago.

Charap said he would provide his services for free to the family, and he will also consult with a specialist about the dozens of cuts on Naomi’s face and ways to prevent scarring.

The ophthalmologist also is talking to his friends in a local band about a possible benefit concert for the family of five. Anyone interested in assisting the Barrett family can contact Charap at (714) 921-0232.

Others in the community have stepped forward with gifts for Naomi. The unexpected gestures have bolstered the spirits of her mother, Vesna Barrett, who has concerns about raising her family in Southern California.

The native of Croatia, whose parents fled to Australia for political refuge when she was young, said she loves the freedoms of the United States but worries about the randomness of violence.

“This has me so upset because it’s all so unnecessary, I mean we don’t live in a war zone,” she said. “It’s frightening. We are seriously thinking of moving.”