Death Toll High in Tucson Shooting

On January 8^th, 2011, just after 10:00 a.m., a belligerent Jared Lee Loughner aimed for U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. He killed six and injured fourteen.

Giffords was holding a meeting with members of her constituency in a Safeway supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona, part of the Tucson metro area. She had set up a table outside the store, and twenty to thirty people were gathered around her when Jared Lee Loughner removed a legally-concealed pistol from his clothing. He proceeded to fire randomly at other members of the crowd. The weapon used was 9mm Glock Model #19 semi-automatic pistol with a 30-round magazine. The gunman stopped to reload and dropped a loaded magazine from his pocket onto the sidewalk. Patricia Maisch, an unwounded bystander, snatched the loaded magazine away. Loughner was tackled by 74-year old retired colonel Bill Badger, who himself had been shot.

Twenty-two-year-old Loughner was arrested at the scene. Prosecutors filed five charges against him, some of which carry the possibility of the death penalty. Court filings include notes allegedly handwritten by Loughner implying his intentions to assassinate Giffords, but his motive remains unclear. The suspect is not currently cooperating with authorities and has invoked his right to remain silent.

The first 911 call was received at 10:12 a.m. Daniel Hernandez, Jr., applied pressure to Giffords’ gunshot wound and has been credited with saving her life. Police arrived at 10:15 and paramedics at 10:16.

Loughner’s online presence was soon discovered via accounts on both MySpace and YouTube. He said goodbye to his friends and asked them not to be mad at him.  His profile picture showed a gun on a history textbook.

Five people died at the scene, including John Roll, U.S. District Court Chief Judge for Arizona, and Giffords’ community outreach director Gabe Zimmerman. A sixth person, Christina-Taylor Green, was later pronounced dead at the University Medical Center in Tucson. Giffords, a Democrat representing Arizona’s 8^th congressional district, was believed to be the primary target of the shooting.  She was shot through the head at point-blank range, rendering her condition “critical.”

As of January 13, 2011, Loughner was being held in the Federal Correctional Institution at Phoenix without bail.