Six dead, 12 wounded in Arizona shooting

[Not Fade Away]

I work in Lexington, Virginia which is a small college town quite removed from Arizona. Interestingly, a professor at the law school here (Washington and Lee university) has been chosen to represent Loughner. While at work today my boss and I read the local paper which ran an article about it and my boss commented that it was quite an honor for Judy Clarke. I certainly don't think I'd want her job right now, honor or not. Then again, this woman has also represented the unabomber and Susan Smith.

Here's an article about her: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41060342...me_and_courts/

and here's her faculty page at the university http://law.wlu.edu/faculty/profiledetail.asp?id=209

[Pat MaGroin]

Doesn't Loughner's father resemble that Chicago cop who they arrested over the past few years for killing his wife/ves - Drew Peterson?
(I'm pretty sure there's a Drew Peterson thread around here somewhere, lol)

[Paulination]

Doesn't Loughner's father resemble that Chicago cop who they arrested over the past few years for killing his wife/ves - Drew Peterson?
(I'm pretty sure there's a Drew Peterson thread around here somewhere, lol)

I saw the picture before I read your post and that is exactly who I thought it was.

[pvezz]

I saw the picture before I read your post and that is exactly who I thought it was.

Me, too; immediately.

[STsFirstmate]

Wow they could be brothers!
Regards,
mary

[SomeChick]

Suspect pleads not guilty in deadly Ariz. shooting



AP â?? This Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 photo released by the Pima County Sheriff's Office shows shooting suspect â?¦

• Slideshow:Ariz. Shooting Tragedy
• Play Video Video:Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' Complications ABC News
• Play Video Video:Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Heads to Houston ABC News

By JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press â?? 1 min ago
PHOENIX â?? The suspect in the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords smiled and nodded but didn't speak as he appeared in court Monday and his lawyer provided the 22-year-old's first response to the charges: a plea of not guilty.
In the two weeks since the deadly attack outside a Tucson grocery store, Jared Loughner's hair â?? shaved in the mug shot that's become an enduring image of the tragedy â?? has grown out slightly. The 22-year-old Tucson resident wore an orange prison jumpsuit and glasses, and his wrists were cuffed to a chain around his waist as eight U.S. Marshalls kept watch in the packed Phoenix courtroom and gallery above.
Loughner faces federal charges of trying to assassinate Giffords and murder two of her aides. He will later face state charges in the attack that killed six people, including U.S. District Judge John Roll and a 9-year-old girl.
Investigators have said Loughner was mentally disturbed and acting increasingly erratic in the weeks leading up to the attack on Jan. 8. If Loughner's attorney uses mental competency questions as a defense and is successful, Loughner could be sent to a mental health facility instead of being sentenced to prison or death.
But his attorney, Judy Clarke, said she wasn't raising issues of competency "at this time" after U.S. District Judge Larry Burns of San Diego asked whether there was any question about her client's ability to understand the case against him.
Giffords was shot in the forehead and twelve others were injured in the shooting. The Democratic congresswoman spent two weeks in a Tucson hospital before she was flown to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center Hospital on Friday. Shortly after her arrival, doctors said she had been given a tube to drain a buildup of brain fluid that has kept her in intensive care.
Hospital spokesman James Campbell said Monday the next update on Giffords condition would come when they are ready to move Giffords to the rehab hospital.
Prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst estimated that he would know within the next 30 days whether additional federal charges would be filed against Loughner. Kleindienst said prosecutors provided defense lawyers with records taken from Loughner's computer and documents of about 250 interviews made in the case.
The judge did not rule on prosecutors' request to move the federal case back to Tucson so that victims and witnesses do not have to make the four-hour round trip drive to Phoenix to attend court hearings. The case was moved because one of those killed, Roll, was a federal judge.
Clarke said she didn't oppose the request at this time, but questioned where Loughner would be jailed in Tucson if the case were moved.
Clarke has not responded to requests seeking comment. She is one of the top lawyers in the country for defendants facing prominent death penalty cases, having represented clients such "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph. She has a reputation for working out plea deals that spare defendants the death penalty, as was the case for Rudolph and Kaczynski.
The judge set a March 9 hearing to consider motions in Loughner's case.
___
Associated Press Writer Michelle Price contributed to this report.

[JefeStone]

It could have been worse. Of course the Gun lobby are leaving out the fact he was ready to shoot a innocent bystander and are painting him a hero.

Arizona Congressman, Rep. Trent Franks said “I wish there had been one more gun in Tucson.” The implication is that if there had only been an armed hero there with a gun, the shooting could have been stopped. What the Congressman was apparently ignorant of is that there was another gun there. In fact, there were at least two others. Jared Lee Loughner planned his attack well. His approach to the Congresswoman was not threatening. When he got close, he raised the hand with the gun in it and started firing. No one had time to react. The second gun, that of a bystander, came out after the shootings stopped. By then unarmed members of the crowd had grabbed Loughner. Joseph Zamudio had the third gun, a 9mm semiautomatic. When he heard the shooting, he ran to the scene. Zamudio saw a young man squirming on the ground and an older man standing above him, waving a gun.Zamudio, 24, had his finger on the trigger and seconds to decide.He lifted his finger from the trigger and ran toward the struggling men. As he grabbed the older man's wrist to wrestle the gun away, bystanders yelled that he had the wrong man — it was the man on the ground who they said had attacked them and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). The gun the older man was holding had been wrestled away from the shooter. Police later identified 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner as the suspect.

[Giada]

I've seen interviews with Zemudio. He was visibly shaken and relieved he chose in an instant not to draw his gun. Eyes would have turned toward him and believed he was an accomplice.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...275131528.html

[Bidmor]

Gabby asked for toast!!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_congresswoman_shot

[lmphillips2000]

I wonder if there have been any current pictures of Gabby and how she's looking. Hmmm..

[geekygirl]

Gabby asked for toast!!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_congresswoman_shot

This is awesome news, considering most people thought that she was toast on the morning of January 8th. I don't know if it happened in your area, but here in LA there were numerous reports that she had died.

[Paulination]

I don't know if it happened in your area, but here in LA there were numerous reports that she had died.

I'm in San Diego so I guess I would be considered in your area and yes, all of the initial reports was that she was dead.

[Pat MaGroin]

Fortified mailbox and boarded up house: Arizona shooting suspect's parents retreat as virtual prisoners in 'elaborate cage'

Ever since their son Jared Loughner was arrested in connection with the Arizona shooting rampage last month, Randy and Amy Loughner have retreated into what one neighbour calls 'an elaborate cage'.

Mr Loughner has built a substantial wooden enclosure, more than 6ft high, obscuring his front door and windows.

The four horizontal windows on the garage door have been covered over, and the diamond-shaped openings in the block wall of the property's backyard closed off with little plywood plugs.

Barricaded in: Randy and Amy Loughner's modest Arizona home now has a 6ft fence obscuring their front door and window. The couple, always privacy conscious, are virtually prisoners in their own home


Before: The front door and main front window of the house can be clearly seen in this January picture of the Loughner home. Other windows are covered up and the couple are rarely seen outside

Even the white mailbox out the front of the house has been replaced by a heavy black steel one with a locked drawer.

Neighbour Stephen Woods, who lives in a house to the left of the Loughners, said his neighbour was already a bit of a recluse - but the media attention the family had received after the shooting had pushed him over the edge.

Fortified: Even the family's white wooden mailbox has been replaced with a black metal lockable draw

Until January 8, the couple's 22-year-old son Jared shared the modest beige block-and-brick home where the couple had lived for nearly three decades.

Now he faces federal charges of attempting to assassinate U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aides.

Six people, including a federal judge, were killed and 13 wounded in the shooting during a Giffords meeting with constituents outside a Tucson grocery store, and more charges are expected.

Except for a brief written statement, the Loughners have kept their silence. They have been rarely seen outside their home, and relatives have also closed ranks.
Some neighbours even thought the couple had moved away from the 1,400-square-foot home.
But then they heard the sounds of hammers and saws as Mr Loughner began his fortification.
One neighbour, Ron Johnson, has seen Mr Loughner making brief forays from the home under cover of darkness.
Mr Johnson, who lives opposite the home, said: 'He comes out after dark. He comes out of that garage, closes it and scoots down that highway.'
Mr Johnson added that he once tried to be friendly with the family but Mr Loughner - who was once in construction but now appears not to work - would not look him in the eye.

The neighbour quipped: 'On the other hand, he's probably the best neighbour I ever had. He doesn't talk to you and doesn't borrow.'
George Gayan, 82, who has lived on the Loughners' right for nearly 30 years, said a young Jared would play with his great-grandson when they were both about four years old.

Rare sighting: Amy and Randy Loughner outside their home days after the Phoenix shooting. They have been rarely seen outside the modest residence since

But Mr Gayan said that he had never seen inside the Loughner home. He added: 'He wants his privacy. I honour his request. I have no problem with that. People move out into the middle of the desert because they want their privacy.'
But Mr Woods said Mr Loughner had taken his privacy to the extreme.

He said the family's backyard was encircled with high trellises and thick greenery.
He added: 'You can stand on a 6ft ladder at my fence and still not look into his back yard.
If Mr Loughner's privacy concerns seemed exaggerated before, they were now very real.

Two days after the shootings, Mr Loughner called the sheriff's office to complain that people were hanging over his back wall trying to take photographs.

He told deputies that he had caught a reporter in his backyard with a camera, and had chased her away. No one has been charged.

These days, Mr Woods does not see Mr Loughner out watering his plants or walking the family's little black and white dog - as he used to.

And Mr Woods doesn't mind.
He said he had had arguments with Mr Loughner from almost the moment he moved in.

Terrible day: Emergency personnel and Daniel Hernandez, an intern for Mrs Giffords, move the stricken Congresswoman after the gun rampage of January 8

Mr Wood's daughter Stephanie is the same age as Jared and was in some of his classes at high school.
Mr Woods thought it was strange that Jared, who rode his bike past their house all the time, would have nothing to do with her.
He added: 'There's something off about the kid. And when you think about the kid, Jared, you think about the parents.

'And you look at the parents and say, 'Yeah, well the dad's really angry. He has some issues, the father. I think it's trickled down on the son. And it's too bad.'

[Pat MaGroin]

Revealed, the mug shot of Arizona shooting suspect Jared Loughner that his lawyer didn't want you to see

A new photo of the man suspected of shooting U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords has been released despite pleas from lawyers that it invades his privacy.

Attorneys for Jared Loughner, who is also accused of killing six people and wounding a dozen others in Tucson, Arizona last month, argued that the picture didn't serve any legitimate public interest.
In addition, mug shots reveal people at their most humiliating moments, they said.


New picture: Lawyers tried to stop this photo of Arizona shooting suspect Jared Loughner, being released after arguing it would be an invasion of his privacy

The previously unreleased photo is a different image than the mug shot released by the Pima County Sheriff's Office taken two days after Loughner was arrested.
That photo showed Loughner wide eyed and smiling and was widely circulated on the internet.
In the newly released picture he is still smiling but the grin is far less. He is wearing a mustard-coloured prison uniform, his hair is longer and there is a cut on his right forehead.

And how he looked before: Loughner was wide-eyed and grinning in his original mug shot taken by police after his arrest

Last week, U.S. District Judge Larry A Burns said he was leaving it up to the marshals to decide whether to release the mug shot of Loughner, 22, taken in Phoenix while he was in the agency's custody.
Mr Burns said he did not agree the photo would invade Loughner's privacy or harm his chance at a fair trial, but he said he didn't have the authority to rule on the matter because the 6th Circuit requires the U.S. Marshals Service to release the photo.
'We're making these pictures seem way more ominous than they really are,' Mr Burns said, adding the second mug shot is much 'tamer' than the first one.

The attack on January 8 outside a Tucson-area grocery store also left a federal judge, an aide to Giffords and a nine-year-old girl dead.
Loughner will stand trial for attempting to assassinate Giffords and murder two of her staff, before he faces charges over his other alleged victims.
He will not face state justice, which covers most of the alleged shootings, until federal proceedings were completed, Arizona authorities announced.

He has pleaded not guilty to one federal charge of attempted assassination and two of attempted murder.


If convicted, he could face the death penalty as both were government employees.

Giffords has been in hospital since she was shot through the forehead. Her doctor, Gerard Francisco, said she was making good progress.


Crime scene: The shooting last month in Tucson, Arizona, left six people, including a nine-year-old girl and federal judge dead and a dozen others wounded including Representative Gabrielle Giffords

[Pat MaGroin]

Anybody else surprised that Gabrielle Gifford's husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, went up in the Space Shuttle as planned..? I would think he would be staying here on Planet Earth supporting his wife as she recuperates from being shot through the brain

What, is he going on Dancing With The Stars next week?

[Paulination]

Anybody else surprised that Gabrielle Gifford's husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, went up in the Space Shuttle as planned..?

I thought his mission wasn't until April 19th?

[Pat MaGroin]

I thought his mission wasn't until April 19th?

Yikes! - You're right! I heard them say he went up on the radio and took it as fact. I should have known better than having Robin Quivers as my source .
Next month I'll still feel the same way though - I think it's in bad taste for Kelly to go up in space while Giffords is recuperating from a horrific brain injury. I'm sure he's currently going to work, preparing for this flight now while his wife likely needs his support. She has a long way to go.

[Giada]

Anybody else surprised that Gabrielle Gifford's husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, went up in the Space Shuttle as planned..? I would think he would be staying here on Planet Earth supporting his wife as she recuperates from being shot through the brain

What, is he going on Dancing With The Stars next week?

Kudos to both Mark and Gabby ... She would want him to go.

[cash]

WTC steel to honor Arizona shooting victim - nice touch

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/wtc_steel_to_honor_ariz_shooting_Zec0RyyFutgZqWLodH5s2N

[coconn04]

By Alexis Tereszcuk
Radar Staff Reporter
Jared Lee Loughner has been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial for the mass shooting that injured Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in January.
The decision came down Wednesday following a bizarre situation in a Tucson, Arizona courtroom when Loughner began shouting and was removed from the proceedings.

“Thank you for the freak show. She died in front of me. You are changing it,” Loughner shouted at the judge.
According to a FOX news producer in the courtroom, Loughner appeared disheveled as he entered the hearing, dressed in a tan prison jumpsuit and sporting longer hair and a beard. He had been rocking in his chair and laid his head on the table in front of him before the outburst.

Loughner, 22, spent five weeks in March and April at a federal facility in Missouri where he was examined by two court-appointed mental health professionals. He has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges stemming form the January 8 shooting that left six people dead, and another 14 wounded, including the intended target of the rampage – Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Giffords is in a rehabilitation facility in Houston, TX but was able to travel to Florida on May 16 to see her husband take off on the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Loughner has been ordered back to a mental health facility for further treatment and evaluation. There will be another hearing in four months to determine if Loughner’s mental competency has improved

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusive...ielle-giffords

[Zoe_Zeppelin]

I hope that psychotic SOB get's what he deserves some day.

[endsleigh03]

She looks pretty good, considering.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._lnk3%7C215778

[gemini33]

She looks pretty good, considering.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._lnk3%7C215778

She looks great! I would have never guessed that someone shot her in the head five months ago just by looking at those pics.

[Buttercup]

Wow, she does look great!

[DonnaMc]

What an amazing woman!

[geekygirl]

I wonder if they are going to do something about the dent in her head on the left side. If viewing from just the right side, you would never know anything had happened.

BTW, I can't remember where I heard it but some are saying that she is the anti-Christ. She is Jewish and has recovered from a mortal head wound. I googled it and was surprised at how many hits there are for Gabrielle Gifforts and Antichrist. Bizarre. I think she's been through enough already.

[Linnie]

Read halfway down this page.

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/fo...age1326344/pg1


According to one poster, the whole incident was faked, right down to the little 9/11 girl. Though the post also says that Gabrielle Giffords is Gwyneth Paltrow's second cousin. Wow, that, AND one of the Illuminati. Who knew?

Then it gets sillier... One poster asserts that Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords = 666. The next poster reminds him or her that it's 777.

[geekygirl]

The same people are probably still waiting for the apocalypse to happen and/or are trying to figure out the biblical significance of why Harold Camping had a stroke last week.

[Xtine]

Did anyone watch the Diane Sawyer interview? It was great!! I usually don't like to watch stories like this, but this woman has made incredible progress.

[Cynful]

Did anyone watch the Diane Sawyer interview? It was great!! I usually don't like to watch stories like this, but this woman has made incredible progress.

It's an absolutely AMAZING story and her progress has been REMARKABLE!!! SO much love, faith, courage, bravery, determination- she's an INCREDIBLE woman with a VERY special family that includes the family of doctors, nurses, therapists and all the other caregivers who love her so much.

[rjbrasher]

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/gab...-life-14952897

[NewEnglander]

Gabrielle Giffords has resigned from Congress. So tragic what happened to her, but after seeing the 20/20 piece on her, I didn't think she'd be capable of returning to Congress. That's the saddest thing, she was such a bright vibrant woman before the shooting. She's still vibrant and has an admirable spirit, but a career in public service is not in the cards for her now. Maybe in time, with medical advances she will some day though.

http://news.yahoo.com/rep-giffords-r...192109276.html

[Upset]

Good news: Giffords moves back to Tucson:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/12/us/ari...html?hpt=hp_t1

[BelleRain]

Read halfway down this page.

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/fo...age1326344/pg1


According to one poster, the whole incident was faked, right down to the little 9/11 girl. Though the post also says that Gabrielle Giffords is Gwyneth Paltrow's second cousin. Wow, that, AND one of the Illuminati. Who knew?

Then it gets sillier... One poster asserts that Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords = 666. The next poster reminds him or her that it's 777.

I was reading a couple pages of that forum. WOW!!! I live in Tucson, and was at the hospital the next day after she was shot, for my son, in emergency. Still there were so many news vans, and cameras set up. The memorial that was on the Campbell Rd side of the hospital was huge already. I just dont see how all that was faked..the docs, the victims, all of it... I am very surprised that she has made such a miraculous recovery, with a head wound, but I shouldnt be able to do alot of things that I can, and was told i would be healing for years, when I was back to about 90% by one. My son shouldn't be here, and he is. Miraculous things do happen, and she had the best of the best docs and neurologists working with her. And they are wrong, she isnt running for the 2012 presidency. LOL But it is all interesting in a fictional sort of way. The whole, shes an antichrist is too funny.

[Rosebud666]

Read halfway down this page.

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/fo...age1326344/pg1


According to one poster, the whole incident was faked, right down to the little 9/11 girl. Though the post also says that Gabrielle Giffords is Gwyneth Paltrow's second cousin. Wow, that, AND one of the Illuminati. Who knew?

Then it gets sillier... One poster asserts that Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords = 666. The next poster reminds him or her that it's 777.

Even sillier since New Testament scholars determined years ago that number of the Beast is actually 616.

[RiotBoots]

He was sentenced today..

Convicted mass shooter Jared Loughner was sentence to six life terms in prison plus 140 years.
Loughner, 24, appeared in federal court in downtown Tucson today at 10 a.m.
Loughner was convicted after agreeing to a plea deal in August. He pleaded guilty to 19 counts including the attempted assassination of former Congresswoman Gabrielle GIffords on Jan. 8, 2011

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/2...plus-140-years

[Miho]

Mods should we change the title to Jared Loughner?

[Dangitbawb]

Gawd what a creepy looking fucker! Glad the insanity defense didn't let this guy walk, we'll never have to worry about him again!

[cash]

Loughner had filed a $25 million lawsuit against Gabby Giffords - not taking his meds

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/mass...onal-distress/