by NPR Staff, National Public Radio
January 8, 2011
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, Arizona Public Media reported Saturday.
Giffords, who was re-elected to her third term in November, was hosting her first “Congress on Your Corner” event at the Safeway in northwest Tucson when a gunman ran up and started shooting, according to Peter Michaels, news director of Arizona Public Media.
At least five other people, including members of her staff, were hurt. Giffords was transported to University Medical Center in Tucson. Her condition was not immediately known.
Giffords was talking to a couple when the man ran up firing indiscriminately, and then ran off, Michaels said. According to other witnesses, the was tackled by a bystander and taken into custody.
Fox News reported that she was shot at point blank range in the head by a gunman who was firing indiscriminately.
According to Wikipedia:
She is the only member of the U.S. Congress whose spouse, astronaut Mark E. Kelly, is an active duty member of the U.S. military.
Giffords is known as a strong proponent of solar energy as well as for her work to secure the border with Mexico
This is the third time she has met at this type of community event in Tucson. She is 40 years old. 11 others, including local staff members, were also shot. Our thoughts and prayers are with Rep. Giffords.
Fox News is reporting that there are multiple fatalities and that the congressman has died. They are trying to get official confirmation.
The above information was incorrect. Gabrielle Giffords is out of surgery. She is alive, in critical condition, but the doctor who just spoke said he was optomistic about her recovery.
MSNBC is contradicting NPR, from an interview with a Sheriff, stating that the Congresswoman in still alive and in critical condition, in surgery.
Just heard on TV that the hospitals says she is still alive, in surgery.
Some pretty strange comments surfacing about this on the internet…… This is tragic and looks like it might get reeeaaaalllll ugly. Sigh.
Hope she (all of them) pulls through. Lots of speculation about her being alive or dead. People are more interested in trying to be the first to report than getting factual information to report.
Gateway Pundit is reporting that the shooter is an Afghan Theater war vet.
I’ve seen reports on other blogs that some blogs on the left, ie DailyKos, has some idiotic diaries, but its been scrubbed. Haven’t actually seen any comments blaming the right by anything other than inference, because her political opponent was involved with guns and shooting and used shooting terminology in fund raising.
Palin getting slammed.
Of course she is. That’s what those blogs do……try for political points in a crisis. “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
Next you’ll see more calls for gun control, blaming of the Tea Party, etc, even before the facts are out.
I saw one crazy comment that said Palin’s to blame for the shooting and has blood on her hands, as she had Rep. Giffords “in her crosshairs”! How ridiculous. There’s nothing really known yet about the shooter, yet people are jumping to all kinds of crazy conclusions.
That was quick.
http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/01/close-friend-of-giffords-state-rep-linda-lopez-blames-tea-party-for-shooting/
Tragic and frightening what is happening to our country. Our hatred for one another–based on political ideology–is turning our homeland into a war zone.
———————————————
AP
0 TUCSON, Ariz. – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head Saturday, an aide was killed, and an unknown number of others were wounded when an assailant opened fire outside a grocery store as the Democratic lawmaker met with constituents, officials said.
C.J. Karamargin, a spokesman for Giffords, said the congresswoman was in surgery as of 1 p.m. local time and that an unspecified number of Giffords staff members were injured in the shooting. Karamargin said he had no other information on the conditions of the injured or on the circumstances of the shooting.
Congressional officials said an aide to the Democrat was killed, and unknown number of others were injured, including staffers to the lawmaker.
President Barack Obama called the shooting “an unspeakable tragedy” and that such “a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society.
U.S. Capitol police say the shooter is in custody as one official said he carried out the attack with an automatic weapon. The officials who described the events did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not permitted to comment publicly.
“I am horrified by the senseless attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and members of her staff,” newly elected House Speaker John Boehner said. “An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve. Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society. Our prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her staff, all who were injured, and their families. This is a sad day for our country.”
Three hours after the shooting, 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.
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.
Related Articles
* Obama: ‘Some’ killed in Arizona shooting
* Full text: Obama’s statement on congresswoman’s shooting
* Congresswoman Giffords shot by gunman, in surgery
* Congresswoman Giffords shot, badly wounded in Arizona
Map
Giffords tweeted shortly before the shooting, saying: “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.
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.
Despite the animosity she has generated from 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 this week.
We do know that her office was one of the offices targeted by people opposed to health care reform. People need to keep any speculaton quiet until the FACTS are verified. Let’s just pray she fully recovers.
Federal authorities identify the gunman as Jared Laughner of Arizona, born September 1988
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
This sight is reporting a judge was also shot and multiple people are being
held relating to the incident.
Like others, I think we must wait for all the facts before assigning blame.
A site with some insight.
re: Palin
When you have a map up with gun sites trying to be all tough, and something bad happens, you should expect some bad press. Many of us expressed displeasure with Palin saying various opponents were in her sites. Giffords was one on the map with a gun site on it.
The moral of that story is to not do something like that in the first place, then no one can criticize.
Sorry about leaving up incorrect information for so long. I would say blame Fox News, but I won’t, even though I got it from them. They made every effort, this time, to get information correct.
I am happy the congresswoman is alive and hopefully she is on her way to full recovery.
AZ is nuts.
@Moon-howler
Don’t do it because some nutball will take it literally.
@Posting as Pinko
Some nut job came up with the idea that women should be able to vote. Not all bad ideas are bad. Let’s not put blame on the ideas but rather the nutjobs that take the ideas to the nth degree and do something that in the end hurts us all.
@marinm
I was responding to MH’s comment, “The moral of that story is to not do something like that in the first place, then no one can criticize.”
What I am saying is be careful how you present your strategy. If you use violent metaphors, someone will eventually get violent.
Last Updated 5:33 p.m. ET
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head and an aide was killed Saturday when an assailant opened fire in an area where the lawmaker was meeting with constituents, officials said.
Also killed in the shooting rampage was U.S. District Judge John Roll, the U.S. Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales confirmed.
A young child approximately 9 years old was also killed, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Giffords is in critical condition from a gunshot to the head, but the spokesperson said he was “about as optimistic as I can get in this situation” that she will recover.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-20027906.html
my son is nine………………………..how devestating for that family.
All I see is speculation and jumping to conclusions here that this is based on political ideology. How does anyone know that? The shooter could just be some nutty person who hasn’t even voted. It’s funny how everyone’s quick to rush to judgement, that just because a congresswoman was shot it is based on politics. The shooter also shot 8 other people, so this isn’t your typical political assassination where the shooter just targets one person.
GR, I think it’s about domestic terrorism. Crazies like this will use any ideology or excuse to perpetuate violence. They stir things up, get attention, and leave the rest of us to clean up the mess–except we can’t because we’re all so divided. Terrorists know this. Divide and conquer.
I don’t know if anyone saw the shooter’s YouTube, but he sounded insane. But I might have been missing his point. Maybe he and his friends are just misunderstood geniuses.
“Maybe he and his friends are just misunderstood geniuses.” Being sarcastic, of course.
@Gainesville Resident
GR, no one is speculating about anything. I have the Palin site which has been taken down. No one is saying Palin is to blame. We are saying it is unwise to ever put up something like gun sites because people will blame you. That is NOT speculation.
I am the one who put up the incorrect death information. I explaiNed why and apologized. I find it insulting to everyone on this blog to suggest that our horror falls along party lines.
I was watching the shooter’s youtube videos. This guy was just a nut, plain and simple. I was looking for political ideology in his videos….they’re just outer-limits. But unfortunately, this will bring out the tea party haters, the gun control loonies, the Palin-haters, and the end result will be even more division. But if that’s the way it’s gonna be, so be it.
The efforts to make this about politics seem to be about as nuts as the shooter himself. I’ve never met a 22 year old that knew the first thing about politics, or was mature enough to have an opinion one way or the other.
I never said anything about the incorrect death info, and that was all over the place anyway – on every website.
And, I NEVER EVER said that the blog’s “horror falls along party lines”. Interesting how words are put in my mouth.
I did see however people jump to conclusions and suggest it was motivated by party lines. That’s all I said.
This guy is a nut, and probably never voted and doesn’t care about politics, but just chose a political event to make himself known or some thing.
Sorry it appears that I am said to have insulted everyone on this blog. I guess I’m not welcome here anymore.
@Slowpoke Rodriguez
I have known severalvwho have known a great deal. I was not one of them.
Twitter feed from a supposed friend from the shooters high school: http://mobile.twitter.com/caitieparker#22979901883682816
Moon,
This is what people like us have been saying about being aware of what one espouses, especially when they are in positons of power. This guys does sound very unstable, very out of the normal realm of reality, HE is why people just can spew stupid crap and think that it won’t come back to haunt them. I don’t know whether he did or did not vote or whether he could care less about politics, only time will tell.
I met Ms. Gifford and worked with her office a bit on detainee issues. She was very bright and very personable, two traits that are rare in Congress. I hope she has a full recovery. I hope the other injured recover, too, and extend regrets to the families of those that died.
I can’t begin to imagine what the chatter would be if the shooter had been Muslim or Mexican or if the target of the attack was a conservative.
Moe, thank you for sharing. Thanks also for the reminder that other people were seriously injured and 5 were killed in this horrible incident.
Well, I WILL SAY IT: If you REMOVE the people who are diagnosed schizophrenic that have shot or killed people who are on the right ( I am thinking of Hinkley and Reagan, )all I have seen are people from the right who have stepped on women’s faces, punched them in the face ( at healthcare reform discussions) or who have called for killing doctors who perform abortions and then followed through with terrorism and murder, led by Terry Randell and Operation Rescue, or right wingers who say we need 2nd amendment remedies, or Tea Party members who walked around with sidearms to prove a point, or non-left citizens ( I don’t know whether they were republicans or Tea Party people) spitting on and yelling epitaphs at Barney Frank or black congressmen). What about the discussion of impeaching OBAMA. what about the Birther movement. I could go ON and ON……… I am SICK and TIRED of this bullshit equivocation that comes from the right: This violence is not related to one side or the other: BULLSHIT !!!!!!! And I am sorry for swearing but I am LIVID!!!!!!!If you want to stoke the fires and rile up people who are not mentally ill, but just pissed off at the wrong people, keep spewing the garbage that we see all the time mostly coming from the right and sont any of you DARE say you have no responsiblility for it. WORDS HAVE POWER.
I agree they can “know” a great deal, but they lack the experience to put it into perspective.
and please, if anyone can show me left leaning people who have committed crimes like this against politicians who have NOT been diagnosed later as schizophrenic, PLEASE post it. I would really love to think this is not mostly one sided. I am totally serious.
Then there’s the pitiful specimen here that calls itself “Heidi”. In her recent post here she defines criminally insane….nice!!
Gainsville, I was not offended. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. If you offended anyone, God help me. That’s all I can say. I should just leave now.
Slowpoke: Yes, lets lower ourselves to ad hominem attacks. I will not even respond to the rest of it.
I said schizophrenic. I don’t know what you are getting at in terms of your inclusion of crim inally insane http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Criminally+insane Your addition of the term leaves me wondering what your point is?
And just for the record, since I am familiar with some of the bloggers here who hail from the right, I don NOT think any of you would do something like this.
thanks. i feel exonerated
I am researching ALL political assassinations in the US right now and will repost afterwards. It seems we had some anarchist assassins in addition to conservative/right leaning persons. I will get back to you all in terms of percentages on both sides. I would love to prove myself wrong. Maybe its just in the last 50 years or so that my opinion is correct. Maybe there were a lot of left leaning assassins 100 years ago. I hate to say it but at least that would make me feel better.
sorry E
@slow and I am not sure those with some age under their belts do either.
Probably each of us at this blog has some interest in the political beast. What do any of us have to offer as far as experience?
Heidi I am angry and I agree with you.
I just don’t think it is productive to hang labels on people who don’t jump out at you. Now if a person defines himself as a neo-nazi, that would be one thing….but in this case, I don’t believe there are any clear indicators for hanging a political label on this kid. He obviously has some severe psychological problems.
Having said that, that is why everyone who is a public figure has to be very careful about what they say. I go back to the gun sites. There is no indication, at this point, that this Gerrod kid ever even saw the Palin site. However, when you are unsure of your audience, it just isn’t smart to put up crosshairs over people. Ms. Palin has learned that the hard way. I seriously doubt she would ever do that again.
I don’t think she was killed. Can anyone clarify that? I have seen a lot of confusion regarding this, and some people have desperately tried to make it politically based. The guy was obviously just bonkers and found an easy target to get the best bang for his buck.