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| Rep. Giffords |
TUCSON, Ariz. — U. S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) underwent surgery after being shot in the head at a public event in Tucson, Ariz. today. At least five people were killed in the shooting incident, including a federal judge.
Giffords, 40, a member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus and a strong supporter of gay rights, was shot at close range in the head during a “Congress On Your Corner” event outside a Safeway grocery store in northwest Tucson.
NPR reports at least 13 people were injured, and that among the dead are U.S. District Judge John Roll.
Giffords is alive and out of surgery, according to Dr. Peter Rhee, director of trauma at the University Medical Center in Tucson.
“I’m as optimistic as you can get in this situation,” Rhee said, but said he will monitor her closely in the next 24 hours before determining her prognosis.
The Shooting:
Giffords was talking to a couple shortly after 10:00 a.m. when the suspect, identified as 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, ran up and fired from about four feet away.
A witness, Steven Rayle, a Tucson doctor, told The Washington Post, that he saw the gunman, a young man wearing sneakers and what appeared to be navy blue sweats, approach Gifford with a semi-automatic handgun raised. The gunman said nothing before shooting the congresswoman once in the head, Rayle said.
After Giffords fell, he said, a number of people sought to flee the scene but were trapped — hemmed in by the table and a concrete post. The gunman then fired into the crowd, he said.
“It was so close, and sort of a tight thing, there was nowhere easy to run,” Rayle said. “So most of the crowd got it, you know.”
“People that were there were just sitting ducks,” Rayle said. “I don’t think he was even aiming. He was just firing at whatever.”
After a few seconds, Rayle said, the man stopped shooting and tried to flee.
Loughner was tackled by a bystander and taken into custody. Authorities recovered a single weapon, a pistol with what was described as an “extended magazine.”
The Shooter:
Loughner told authorities at the scene he had acted alone, although it was not certain that was the case, officials said. A former classmate described Loughner as a pot-smoking loner who had rambling beliefs about the world, The Associated Press reported.
Federal law enforcement officials were poring over captured versions of a MySpace page that belonged to the suspect and over Youtube video published to the Internet weeks ago under an account “Classitup10″ and linked to him.
The MySpace page, which was removed within minutes of the gunman being identified by U.S. officials, included a mysterious “Goodbye friends” message published hours before the shooting and exhorted his friends to “Please don’t be mad at me.”
In one of several Youtube videos, which featured text against a dark background, Loughner described inventing a new U.S. currency and complained about the illiteracy rate among people living in Giffords’ congressional district in Arizona.
“I know who’s listening: Government Officials, and the People,” Loughner wrote. “Nearly all the people, who don’t know this accurate information of a new currency, aren’t aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn’t have happen (sic).”
The Judge:
U.S. District Judge John Roll was among the dead. Giffords had worked with Roll in the past to line up funding to build a new courthouse in Yuma, and President Barack Obama hailed him for his nearly 40 years of service as a judge.
Roll, a married father of three children, was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. He had served as chief judge since 2006.
Law enforcement sources said that Roll lived nearby and stopped by the Safeway to say hello to Giffords.
“The devoted husband, father of three, grandfather of five, and friend to all who knew him, will be greatly missed by his family and community,” said a statement released by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. “He was a warm, compassionate judge and inspirational leader in what is one of the busiest districts in the country.”
“Chief Judge John Roll was a dedicated jurist whose death is a terrible loss to Arizona and to the country,” said Vice-President Joe Biden in a statement today.
Giffords was first elected to represent Arizona’s 8th District in 2006, and re-elected last November. The “Congress on Your Corner” events allow constituents to present their concerns directly to her. The Congresswoman is married to Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly, a NASA
astronaut and U.S. Navy pilot.
“I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping all the victims and their families, including Gabby, in our thoughts and prayers,” said President Barack Obama in a statement today at the White House. Watch here:
“We are shocked and saddened by the events involving Congresswoman Giffords and our hearts go out to her and the other victims of this awful tragedy, said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
“Gabby Giffords is a champion for LGBT equality and a principled leader for Arizona. We wish her a speedy recovery as our thoughts and prayers are with her family as well as with the families of all of those touched by today’s horrific violence,” Solmonese said.
House Speaker John Boehner condemned the attack.
“An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve,” Boehner said in a statement. “Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society.”
Giffords’ Tucson office was one of three damaged last March by vandals who targeted Democrats in advance of the U.S. House vote on President Obama’s controversial health care legislation.
Following the vote, Giffords landed a place on Sarah Palin’s infamous “crosshairs” map, which targeted legislators who voted for the health care bill. The map was criticized as an incitement to violence, and as of Saturday afternoon, is still posted to Palin’s Facebook page.
Giffords was one of at least 10 House members who had raised concerns about their personal security following the healthcare vote, although there’s no indication at this time that the gunman who shot Giffords was motivated by politics.
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