"It is a tragedy for Arizona, and a tragedy for our entire country," President Barack Obama said.
Among the dead: A federal judge and a 9-year-old girl.
The suspected gunman, identified by federal law enforcement officials as Jared Loughner, 22, opened fire at point-blank range with a pistol with an extended magazine. Loughner was tackled after the shooting and remained in custody.
Giffords was airlifted to a hospital in Tucson where she underwent surgery. She was listed in critical condition.
"The neurosurgeons have finished operating on her and I can tell you that in the current time period I am very optimistic about recovery ... she was following commands," said Dr. Peter Rhee during a press conference.
Rhee described Giffords' wound as "through-and-through ... It went through her brain."
Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin said an unspecified number of her staff members were wounded in the shooting.
'Senseless and terrible'
The shooting prompted an outpouring of sympathy from politicians and people around the country. It also left politicians fearful for their safety.
Obama called the shooting "an unspeakable tragedy" and that such "a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society."
The president sent his FBI director to Arizona to oversee the investigation.
"It's not surprising that today Gabby was doing what she always does, listening to the hopes and concerns of her neighbors," Obama said in a nationally televised news conference. "That is the essence of what our democracy is about."
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.
"He attempted to enlist in the Army but was rejected for service," a statement from the U.S. Army said, NBC News report. "In accordance with the Privacy Act, we will not discuss why he was rejected."
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."
Story: Profile of Jared Loughner: ‘I can't trust the current government’
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. Two spellings of his last name were given in the aftermath of the shooting — Loughner and Laughner.
"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)."
Death of judge
The L-shaped shopping center in Tucson was blocked off by police and had fire trucks and other vehicles in its parking lot that blocked the view of the store's front door. No shell casing could be seen from the area 500 yards from the store where reporters and photographers were kept.
Hours earlier, it had been a horrific scene where U.S. District Judge John Roll was killed.
Giffords had worked with Roll in the past to line up funding to build a new courthouse in Yuma, and Obama hailed him for his nearly 40 years of service as a judge.
Roll, a married father of three children, was the chief judge in Arizona, appointed in 1991 by the first President Bush, NBC News reported.
Law enforcement sources told NBC News 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."
Tears and yellow flowers
Outside Giffords' office on Capitol Hill, a handful of congressional staffers could be seen walking into her office without comment, some with roller bags and one who was in tears. About a half dozen yellow flowers, placed by one mourner, sat outside the door.
Story: Not afraid to speak her mind, Giffords known as a trailblazer
Giffords, 40, was re-elected to her third term last November. She was a member of the Arizona House and Senate before coming to Washington.
Giffords tweeted shortly before the shooting, describing her "Congress on Your Corner" event: "My 1st Congress on Your Corner starts now. Please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later."
Giffords is married to astronaut Mark E. Kelly, who has piloted space shuttles Endeavour and Discovery. The two met in China in 2003 while they were serving on a committee there, and were married in January 2007. He was expected to arrive at the hospital Saturday evening, NBC News reported.
In a statement of condolence, Sen. Bill Nelson, chairman of the Senate Commerce Space and Science Subcommittee, said her husband is training to be the next commander of the space shuttle mission slated for April. His brother is currently serving aboard the International Space Station, he said.
Threats
Giffords was first elected to Congress amid a wave of Democratic victories in the 2006 election, and she won a narrow victory against a tea party favorite in the 2010 election.
She has been mentioned as a possible Democratic nominee in 2012 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Jon Kyl, who has not said whether he'll run again, or for the governor's office in 2014.
The shooting comes amid a highly charged political environment that has seen several dangerous threats against lawmakers but nothing that reached the point of actual violence.
A San Francisco man upset with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's support of health care reform pleaded guilty to threatening the Democratic congresswoman and her family, calling her directly on March 25 and threatening to destroy her Northern California home if she voted for health care reform.
In July, a California man known for his anger over left-leaning politics engaged in a shootout with highway patrol officers after planning an attack on the ACLU and another nonprofit group. The man said he wanted to "start a revolution" by killing people at the ACLU and the Tides Foundation.
Giffords herself has drawn the ire of the right, especially for her support of the health care bill from politicians like Sarah Palin.
Her Tucson office was vandalized a few hours after the House vote to approve the health care law in March, with someone either kicking or shooting out a glass door and window. In an interview after the vandalism, Giffords referred to the animosity against her by conservatives. Plain listed Giffords' seat as one of the top "targets" in the midterm elections because of the lawmakers' support for the health care law.
"For example, we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action," Giffords said in an interview with MSNBC.
In the hours after the shooting, Palin issued a statement in which she expressed her "sincere condolences" to the family of Giffords and the other victims.
Capitol police responded to the shooting by advising lawmakers and their staff to "take reasonable and prudent precautions regarding their personal security."
Despite her clashes with the right, Giffords describes herself as a former Republican and current Blue Dog Democrat.
"You know, actually as a former Republican, you know, I consider myself someone who is pretty in the middle, I'm a blue dog Democrat, and one that is interested in making sure that our country maintains our prosperity and frankly, our superiority over other countries and that's where we look at these threat, obviously our defense budget, our level of education," she said in an interview with Fox News Channel this week.
Vigil outside hospital
Hours after the shooting, a group of women wept, hugged and clutched votive candles at a vigil outside Tucson's University Medical Center.
"I am in shock, I am in deep sadness, I ask myself why? Why do we keep killing our good people? I remember (John F.) Kennedy, I remember Martin Luther King. And I feel anger, but I also feel the basis of this is fear and racism," said Dorsett Edmunds, 67, a physical therapist, as she clutched a votive candle and wept.
Linda Ray, 66, who worked on all of Giffords' campaigns, said she feared the shooting would lead to more divisiveness in U.S. politics.
"The thing that's so powerful about this — is that Gabrielle Giffords' district is predominantly Republican. In order to win that district, I worked shoulder to shoulder with Republicans ... it was a model for what this country should be."
A half-a-dozen people sat on the lawn in front of the hospital with bunches of flowers.
Kevin Dahl, 54, a conservationist, said he viewed Giffords as one of the most intelligent and thoughtful voices in Congress.
"We live in a time of polarized politics where hate is acceptable. This is the exact opposite of democracy. I am ashamed of my state," he said.
Jason Brown said he was an intern for Giffords in both her Tucson and Washington offices.
"I was a witness to the threats she got at her office by phone and in letters. Then to see it play out today, it was all real. I was incredibly shocked, depressed for my country."
Lawmakers urged to take precaution
Meanwhile, officers with the Capitol Police force advised members of the House and their aides to "take reasonable and prudent precautions" about their own security in the wake of the shooting.
In an e-mail obtained by The Associated Press, the Capitol Police say they were directly involved in the investigation of the shooting.
This is a breaking news story, check back for details. The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News contributed to this report.
(Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40978517/ns/politics)
No comments:
Post a Comment