The Zone, an under-21 nightclub in downtown Portland, was the site of a shooting rampage Saturday night. The suspect — who died Tuesday of a self-inflicted shot to the head — left a note giving his car and PlayStation 3 to a roommate and said he was sorry but gave no motive.

PORTLAND — A foreign exchange student critically wounded in a downtown shooting rampage is expected to live, and her parents say they want her to complete her experience of studying in the United States.

Susanna De Sousa, 18, of Italy, was the most seriously injured of the seven people who survived the gunfire outside The Zone, an under-21 nightspot, late Saturday. Two girls died in the attack. The shooter, Erik S. Ayala, died from a self-inflicted shot to the head.

De Sousa, who has been upgraded to stable but serious condition, is in Oregon spending her senior year at Clackamas High School in suburban Portland. She and the foreign students were at the nightclub to celebrate a birthday. There appears to be no link between Ayala and the victims, police said.

The youngest of three children, De Sousa’s older brother and sister have also lived in the U.S. as exchange students, said her father, Americo De Sousa, who arrived here Monday with his wife, Tiziana Trevisan.

The couple told reporters Tuesday they want their daughter to finish the school year here — if that’s what she wants.

“We’d like her to continue her experience,” her father said. “We want our kids to live their lives.”

The United States has a significantly higher crime rate than most European countries, De Sousa acknowledges, but learning about American culture is an experience he and his wife want their children to have.

De Sousa, a Roman Catholic, said he prays for his children’s safety daily, whether they are in Italy or elsewhere. “When they are abroad a little more,” he said. “In Europe, we know that in the United States things are a little more violent.”

Still, Saturday’s shooting hasn’t changed his view of Portland as a safe and hospitable city, he said.

“It was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.

Authorities say the incident is the worst mass shooting in Portland’s history and it has alarmed many in a city that is better known for being eco-friendly and having sweeping vistas than for violent crimes.

“Surgeons aren’t supposed to talk about this stuff but I will anyway,” said Dr. Ameen Ramzy of Legacy Emanuel Hospital, where De Sousa remains in intensive care. “We are sick and saddened and ashamed this had to happen here. … This is definitely not Portland.”

All who were injured are expected to survive the shooting.

De Sousa was struck multiple times and she has undergone two surgeries in the past three days, Ramzy said. Some bullets hit her vital organs, but she is expected to recover without any long-term disabilities.