Ariz. Rep. Giffords in serious condition after Tucson shooting; eight others inj

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/7377741.html
Dad pursued Ariz. massacre suspect before shooting
January 12, 2011

TUCSON, Ariz. — Mysterious black bag in hand, Jared Loughner ran into the desert, his angry father stopping pursuit in his truck.

Hours after Randy Loughner's futile confrontation with his 22-year-old son Saturday morning, six people were shot dead and more than a dozen others wounded — and Jared Loughner was in custody.

The sheriff's deputies who swarmed the Loughners' house removed what they describe as evidence Jared Loughner was targeting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who doctors said Tuesday was breathing on her own for the first time after taking a bullet to the forehead. Among the handwritten notes was one with the words "Die, bitch," which authorities told The Associated Press they believe was a reference to Giffords.

Investigators with the Pima County Sheriff's Department previously said they found handwritten notes in Loughner's safe reading "I planned ahead," "My assassination" and "Giffords." Capt. Chris Nanos said all the writings were either in an envelope or on a form letter Giffords' office sent him in 2007 after he signed in at one of her "Congress on Your Corner" events — the same kind of gathering where the massacre occurred.

On the morning of the shooting, a mumbling Jared Loughner fled after his father asked him why he was removing a black bag from the trunk of a family car, said Nanos and Rick Kastigar, chief of the department's investigations bureau. Investigators are still searching for the bag.

Meanwhile, this city held a tribute to victims the eve of a presidential visit.

On Tuesday night, several hundred mourners filled a Tucson church for a public Mass to remember the slain and pray for the injured. As people filed in, nine young girls sang "Amazing Grace." The youngest victim of the attack, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, was a member of that choir.

"I know she is singing with us tonight," said Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas, who presided over the service.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama visits Arizona and gives a speech honoring the victims to a rattled state and nation.

In one apparent reaction, the FBI said background checks for handgun sales jumped in Arizona following the shootings, though the agency cautioned that the number of checks doesn't equate to the number of handguns sold.

Still, there were 263 background checks in Arizona on Monday, up from 164 for the same day a year ago — a 60 percent rise. Nationally, the increase was more modest: from 7,522 last year to 7,906 Monday, a 5 percent jump.

Loughner's parents, silent and holed up in their home since the shooting spree, issued a statement Tuesday, expressing remorse over the shooting.

"There are no words that can possibly express how we feel," Randy and Amy Loughner wrote in a statement handed to reporters waiting outside their house. "We wish that there were, so we could make you feel better. We don't understand why this happened.

"We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss."

Sheriff's deputies had been to the Loughner home at least once before the attack, spokesman Jason Ogan said. He didn't know why or when the visit occurred, and said department lawyers were reviewing the paperwork and expected to release it Wednesday.

The visits were for nonviolent incidents, including a report by Jared Loughner of identity theft, a noise complaint and Amy Loughner's claim that someone had stolen her license plate sticker, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to the new details about the hours before the shooting, interviews with those who knew Loughner or his family painted a picture of a young loner who tried to fit in.

Before everything fell apart, he went through the motions as many young men do nowadays: Living at home with his parents, working low-wage jobs at big brand stores and volunteering time doing things he liked.

None of it worked. His relationship with his parents was strained. He clashed with co-workers and police. And he couldn't follow the rules at an animal shelter where he spent some time.

One close high school friend who requested anonymity to avoid the publicity surrounding the case said he would wait outside 10 minutes for Jared to leave the house when they were going out. When Jared would get into the car, he'd say that it took so long because his parents were hassling him.

The parents of another close friend recalled how Loughner's parents showed up at their doorstep in 2008 looking for their son, who had left home about a week before and broken off contact.

While the friend, Zach Osler, didn't want to talk with the AP, his parents Roxanne and George Osler IV did.

With the Loughners at their house, Zach Osler told them the name of the place where their only child was staying, Zach's father said.

Loughner was arrested in October 2008 on a vandalism charge near Tucson after admitting he scrawled the letters "C" and "X" on a road sign in a reference to what he said was Christianity. His address listed on the police report was an apartment near his home.

Loughner eventually moved back in with his parents.

Even when Loughner tried to do good, it didn't work out.

A year ago, he volunteered walking dogs at the county animal shelter, said Kim Janes, manager of the Pima Animal Care Center. He liked dogs; neighbors remember him as the kid they would see walking his own.

But at the shelter, staff became concerned: He was allowing dogs to play in an area that was being disinfected after one had contracted a potentially deadly disease, the parvovirus.

"He didn't think the disease was that threatening and when we tried to explain how dangerous some of the diseases are, he didn't get it," Janes said.

Loughner wouldn't agree to keep dogs from the restricted area, and was asked to come back when he would. He never returned.

Loughner also jumped from paid job to job because he couldn't get along with co-workers, according to the close high school friend who requested anonymity. Employers included a Quiznos sandwich shop and Banana Republic, the friend said.

On his application at the animal shelter, he listed customer service work at Eddie Bauer.

Loughner grew up on an unremarkable Tucson block of low-slung homes with palm trees and cactus gardens out front. Fittingly, it's called Soledad Avenue — Spanish for solitude.

Solitude found Loughner, even when he tried to escape it. He had buddies but always fell out of touch, typically severing the friendship with a text message. Zach Osler was one such friend.

Loughner's father moved into the house as a bachelor, and eventually got married, longtime next-door neighbor George Gayan said. Property records show Randy Loughner has lived there since 1977.

Gayan said he and Randy Loughner had "differences of opinion but nothing where it was radical or violent." He declined to provide specifics. "As time went on, they indicated they wanted privacy," Gayan said.

Unlike other homes on the block, the Loughners' is obscured by plants. It was assessed in 2010 at $137,842.

Randy Loughner apparently has not worked for years — at least outside his home.

Amy Loughner got a job with the county parks and recreation department just before Jared was born, and since at least 2002 has been the supervisor for Roy P. Drachman Agua Caliente Park on the outskirts of the city. She earns $25.70 an hour, according to Gwyn Hatcher, Pima County's human resources director.

Linda McKinley, 62, has lived down the street from the Loughner family for decades and said the parents could not be nicer — but that she had misgivings about Jared as he got older.

"As a parent, my heart aches for them," she said.

She added that when she was outside watering her plants she would see Jared riding down the street on his bike, often talking to himself or yelling out randomly to no one.

McKinley recalled that once he yelled to some children on the street: "I'm coming to get you!"

[San]

Westboro Church Cancels Picket at 9-Year-Old Arizona Shooting Victim's Funeral

Published January 12, 2011
| FoxNews.com

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/12/westboro-church-cancels-picket-year-old-arizona-shooting-victims-funeral/#ixzz1ArSYrG7T

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A controversial Kansas church has decided not protest at the funeral of a 9-year-old girl killed in Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz.

Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., says church members will skip Thursday's funeral of Christina Taylor Green.

Phelps-Roper was interviewed Tuesday by a station in Toronto, Canada, and is scheduled to be on a morning talk show Saturday. She says Westboro Baptist Church decided not to picket in exchange for the airtime.

Phelps-Roper says the group will picket the funeral Friday for U.S. District Judge John Roll and at the intersection where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others were shot.

The Arizona Legislature unanimously passed a measure Tuesday banning protests at or near funeral sites.

The Topeka Capital-Journal first reported the church's decision to skip the girl's funeral.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpps/news/faith/westboro-church-funeral-protest-apx-01122011_11406745
Church Agrees Not to Protest Slain Child's Funeral
January 12, 2011

KANSAS CITY - A Kansas church that pickets the funerals of soldiers and blames their deaths on the country's tolerance of homosexuality now says it won't protest the funerals of any victims of Arizona's mass shooting.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, of Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church, says her church has agreed to avoid Thursday's funeral of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green in exchange for live radio interviews in Canada and Arizona.

The church also promised to not protest the funeral of U.S. District Judge John Roll or other victims of the shooting after a nationally syndicated radio show agreed to host church members Monday.

Christina and Roll were among six killed in the shooting Saturday targeting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Westboro church members picket high-profile funerals

[Curly]

The memorial was very moving.
Pres. Obama said all the right things and was a very comforting.
A little ray of hope in light of this tragedy.

[Curly]

Text of Obama's speech~ 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/01/12/2011-01-12_full_text_president_obamas_remarks_at_m

[no rose colored glasses]

Text of Obama's speech~ 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/01/12/2011-01-12_full_text_president_obamas_remarks_at_m

Thank-you, I agree with you, the President did a wonderful job.

[MuffyBee]

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/01/13/arizona.flag.memorial/?hpt=T2
video
9/11 flag heralds funeral service for youngest Arizona shooting victim
January 13, 2011

flag that was nearly destroyed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, was raised outside of the funeral service Thursday for 9-year-old Christina Green, who was born on that fateful day.

The banner, which measures 20 feet high and 30 feet wide, was draped between the extended ladders of two fire trucks outside the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Tucson, Arizona, forming an arch under which Christina's family passed as they arrived ahead of the 1 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) service.

John and Roxanna Green, Christina's parents; and her 11-year-old brother, Dallas, paused for a few moments to look up at the flag as it rippled against the clear blue sky. A few minutes later, more relatives emerged from the same black SUV limousine that brought her immediate family, also craning their necks to take in the huge banner.
(snipped)

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/ad/gmaintroad.html?goback=http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/tucson-shooting-giffords-recovery-helped-family-friends/story?id=12608078
video
Surrounded by Loved Ones, Giffords Opens Her Eyes
Giffords' Recovery a 'Miracle,' Doctor Says
January 13, 2011

Five days after being shot in the head, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes of her own accord.
In a display that surprised doctors and elicited tears of joy from her loved ones who were present, Giffords reportedly reached out toward husband Mark Kelly in an attempt to give him a hug.

Giffords began the struggle to open her eyes and lift her left arm in response to the support and encouragement of friends Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who visited Giffords at the hospital Wednesday evening.
(snipped)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/13/national/main7243407.shtml
Cops: Loughner's "Mystery Bag" Contained Ammo
Man Walking Dog Found Ammunition Bag Authorities think Was Discarded by Suspected Gunman in Arizona Shooting
January 13, 2011

UCSON, Ariz. - A man walking his dog has found a black bag holding ammunition that authorities believe was discarded by a gunman accused of trying to assassinate an Arizona congresswoman.

Chief Rick Kastigar with the Pima County Sheriff's Office told The Associated Press that an 18-year-old found the bag Thursday morning in a neighborhood near where the suspect lives. He went to get another man, who looked inside and saw ammunition.

Authorities have said the suspect, Jared Loughner, and his father got into a confrontation over the bag at their home in the hours before the shooting.
This detail is the latest in a series of snapshots emerging about the final hours before Loughner allegedly opened fire with a semi-automatic Glock handgun in a crowded Tucson Safeway parking lot.

Authorities said Wednesday that a wildlife officer pulled over the suspect in the assassination attempt against an Arizona congresswoman less than three hours before the deadly attack.

Lougher, 22, ran a red light but was let off with a warning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said. The officer took Loughner's driver's license and vehicle registration information but found no outstanding warrants on Loughner or his vehicle.

Wildlife officers have full authority to make traffic stops, although they usually don't do so unless public safety is at risk, the department said in a news release.

Jim Paxon, chief information officer for Arizona Game and Fish told CBS News that the stop took place at Interstate 10 and an unnamed cross street, "several miles" from the Safeway store where the shootings took place.

The night before the shooting, Friday, Jan. 7, Loughner slept at an area motel. He apparently drove to the motel in the Chevy Nova now parked at the Loughner home. Police have since searched the vehicle thoroughly.

At 2:33 a.m. Saturday, Loughner visited a convenience store less than a mile from his house, CBS News reports. Alone, he bought a doughnut, a soft drink and several energy bars. He did not buy alcohol.

Surveillance video of Loughner at the Catalina Mart has been given to the FBI, which wanted the video to see if he had any accomplices, CBS News reports. The FBI scanned Loughner's credit card purchases to track his whereabouts before the shooting.

The morning of the shooting, Loughner went to two WalMart stores to buy ammunition. He left the first store because the clerk was too slow. He bought the ammo at the second store.

Either right before or right after buying the ammo, Loughner was pulled over for running a red light and released, in the earlier described incident.

After being pulled over, Loughner went home and had a confrontation with his father, Randy Loughner.

Loughner ran into the desert from his angry father, who was chasing his son after seeing him remove a black bag from the trunk of a family car, said Rick Kastigar, chief of the Pima County Sheriffs Department's investigations bureau. Randy Loughner had apparently asked after the bag, and his son then fled.

After the run-in with his dad, he took a cab from a convenience store to the Safeway.

The suspect was "moving around quite a bit, going from location to location," the morning of the shooting, the FBI said recently, as they continue to develop a time line of the suspects movements prior to the shooting and the weeks and months before as well.

The sheriff's deputies who swarmed the Loughners' house removed what they describe as evidence Loughner was targeting Giffords. Among the handwritten notes was one with the words "Die, bitch," which authorities told The Associated Press they believe was a reference to Giffords.

Investigators with the Pima County Sheriff's Department previously said they found handwritten notes in Loughner's safe reading "I planned ahead," "My assassination" and "Giffords." Capt. Chris Nanos said all the writings were either in an envelope or on a form letter Giffords' office sent him in 2007 after he signed in at one of her "Congress on Your Corner" events - the same kind of gathering where the massacre occurred.

In addition to the new details about the hours before the shooting, interviews with those who knew Loughner or his family painted a picture of a young loner who tried to fit in, but was increasingly troubled.

Before everything fell apart, he went through the motions as many young men do nowadays: Living at home with his parents, working low-wage jobs at big brand stores and volunteering time doing things he liked.

None of it worked. His relationship with his parents was strained. He clashed with co-workers and police. And he couldn't follow the rules at an animal shelter where he spent some time.

[no rose colored glasses]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110114/ap_on_re_us/us_congresswoman_shot     Security tight for Judge's funeral today.

[klaasend]

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=13844649

Doc 'actually confident' of congresswoman recovery
Posted: Jan 14, 2011 9:19 AM PST Updated: Jan 14, 2011 9:19 AM PST

TUCSON, AZ (AP) - The neurosurgeon treating Rep. Gabrielle Giffords says doctors are "actually confident" Friday she's making progress in her recovery.     

Dr. Michael Lemole says her eyes are opening more frequently and she can carry out more complex sequences of activity in response to commands and on her own.     

He says doctors couldn't have hoped for better improvement, given the severity of her wound.     

Giffords was shot in the head Saturday in an attack in Tucson that wounded 12 others and killed six people, including U.S. District Judge John Roll, whose funeral was Friday.     

Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, posted a message on Twitter Friday thanking people for the messages of support and said "GG," as he referred to her, was "improving each day."

[no rose colored glasses]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011403871.html        Thank-you John McCain for being a gentleman and writing this article.

[klaasend]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011403871.html        Thank-you John McCain for being a gentleman and writing this article.

It is reminiscent of when during the election, someone in the crowd (sounded like an older woman) accused Obama of being a communist or something to that affect.  McCain very nicely set her straight.  McCain is a good man.

[no rose colored glasses]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011403871.html        Thank-you John McCain for being a gentleman and writing this article.

It is reminiscent of when during the election, someone in the crowd (sounded like an older woman) accused Obama of being a communist or something to that affect.  McCain very nicely set her straight.  McCain is a good man.

He really is a good man.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70D57Z20110114
Photos add bizarre twist to Tucson suspect's frantic last night
January 14, 2011

n a frantic final night before the Tucson shooting rampage, police said suspect Jared Lee Loughner checked into a motel, bought bullets for his semi-automatic and picked up photographs reported to show him posing in a G-string with his Glock pistol.

Loughner is accused of spraying a crowd with a semi-automatic pistol outside a Safeway grocery store last Saturday, killing six people and wounding 13, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in critical condition at a Tucson hospital.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department, which arrested Loughner, released a timeline of his final hours Friday, detailing how he checked into a Motel 6, bought ammo, and a diaper style-backpack at a local Walmart store, after dropping off a roll of 35 mm film at a Walgreens drugstore to be developed.

He collected the film several hours later, shortly before 2:30 a.m. The New York Times reported it contained "multiple photos" of the 22-year-old college dropout posing with a Glock 9 mm pistol next to his naked buttocks and dressed in a bright red G-string.

FBI sources told Reuters they could neither confirm nor deny the report.

The sheriff's department confirmed Friday that video from businesses near the shooting scene and the photographs are in FBI custody.

During the frantic last night, Loughner also shopped at two Circle K convenience stores and a Chevron gas station, all within a few miles of the scene of the shooting. He also posted a message on Myspace saying "Farewell friends."

He later was verbally warned for running a stoplight at 7:30 a.m., before returning home where he took a black bag out of his car and argued with his father, before fleeing on foot.

At 9:41 a.m., he took a cab up to the Safeway store, entering with the driver to get change shortly before 10 a.m. Ten minutes later, he pumped bullet after bullet into the crowd at a congressional meeting with Giffords.

He was wrestled to the ground by bystanders. A sheriff's deputy who detained him five minutes later found 30 rounds of ammunition, a knife and a plastic bag containing money in his pockets.

Pima County Sheriff's spokesman Jason Ogan said that police who detained him at the scene searched his pockets and found two 15-round magazines of ammunition, a 4-inch buck knife, a plastic bag containing money, a Visa card and Loughner's Arizona driver's license.

Ogan said Deputy Georgina Patino found Loughner's weapon on the ground and secured it before he was taken to a sheriff's station for booking.

Loughner is charged with five federal counts, including the murder of a federal judge and the attempted assassination of Giffords, who was shot through the head.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011404927.html
Police: New timeline details Jared Loughner's actions before Tucson shooting
January 14, 2011

TUCSON - Suspected gunman Jared Lee Loughner bought a Glock 19 handgun and a box of ammunition on Nov. 30 and titled a post on his MySpace page "Goodbye Friends" on Saturday hours before the shooting spree that left six dead and wounded 13, according to a new timeline released by police.
The timeline provides details of what Pima County Sheriff's Office investigators believe were Loughner's actions leading up to the mass shooting outside a Tucson grocery store. Loughner faces federal murder charges in connection with the killings.

Loughner checked into a Motel 6 at 12:29 the morning of the shooting, then purchased a black diaper bag resembling a backpack and more ammunition later that day at a Super Walmart, police said.

A day earlier, he had dropped off a roll of film to be developed at a Walgreens, though it was unclear what the pictures depicted. The New York Times reported Friday that the photos show Loughner wearing a red g-string and holding a gun near his buttocks. The Pima Sheriff's office said the film from Walgreens had been turned over to the FBI and directed all calls to the federal authorities.

The timeline did not say where Loughner bought the gun and ammunition on Nov. 30. But the model of the weapon matches the model police said was used on the shooting, where he was apprehended with the gun, two extended magazine clips containing 31 rounds apiece, two more clips with 15 rounds apiece and a knife.

Authorities obtained the black diaper bag Thursday after it was found by a man walking his dog in the neighborhood where Loughner lived. The bag reportedly contained ammunition and receipts, which police said gave them an indication of his movements before the shooting.

According to the sheriff's office timeline: On the morning of the shooting, Loughner made purchases at a Circle K, other Walmart stores and a Chevron station. He was stopped by an officer with the Arizona Game and Fish Department at 7:30 a.m. for running a red light, and returned home sometime after he was released.
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He took the black diaper bag and was confronted by his father, Randy, before fleeing on foot. He then took a taxi to the strip mall where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was meeting with constituents. Loughner went inside the Safeway grocery store to get change for the cab ride at 9:54 a.m.

Sixteen minutes later, at 10:10 a.m., he opened fire on Giffords and the crowd, the report stated.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/tucson-shooting-timeline-pima.html
Posted at 4:09 PM ET, 01/14/2011
Tucson shooting timeline: Pima Sheriff's Office
By Washington Post editors

The Pima County, Ariz.,Sheriff's Office on Friday released this timeline for the actions it says led up to the mass shooting of 19 people on Saturday outside a Tucson grocery story. Jared Lee Loughner, the man identified by police as the gunman, is facing federal murder charges in connection with the incident. The sheriff's office says the times are approximate.

"11/30/2010: Jared Lee Loughner purchased a Glock Model 19, 9mm handgun with extended magazine and one box of ammo Winchester.

11:35 PM, 1/7/2011: Loughner drops off roll of 35mm film to be developed at Walgreens, 3800 W. Ina Road, Tucson, AZ

12:24 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner makes a purchase at Circle K Store #3400, 4900 W. Ina Road, Tucson, AZ, 85743.

12:29 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner checks into Motel 6, 4630 W. Ina Road, Tucson, AZ.

2:19 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner returns to Walgreens at 3800 W. Ina Road, Tucson, AZ to retrieve developed photos and makes a purchase

2:34 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner makes purchase at Chevron Store #95481, 7620 N. Hartman Rd, Tucson, AZ

4:12 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner posted bulletin on Myspace. Titled post "Goodbye friends" and contained a photo from Walgreens on website

6:12 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner makes purchase at Walmart Store #2922 at Foothills mall, 7635 N La Cholla Blvd., Tucson, AZ.

6:21 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner makes purchase at Circle K Store #08510 at 3712 W. Cortaro Farms Rd., Tucson, AZ

7:04 AM, 1/8/2011: Walmart Store #2922 at Foothills mall, 7635 N La Cholla Blvd., Tucson, AZ. Loughner attempted to purchase ammunition at Walmart

7:27 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner makes purchase for ammunition and a diaper bag (backpack style) at Super Walmart, 8280 N. Cortaro Road, Marana, AZ.

7:30 AM, 1/8/2011:AZ Game & Fish Department officer stops Loughner for running a red light at Cortaro Rd. and I-10.

Between 7:31 AM and 9:40 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner returned home, removed a black bag from the vehicle. His father confronted him and he fled on foot carrying the black bag.

9:41 AM, 1/8/2011: Cab driver picks up Loughner from Circle K at 3712 W. Cortaro Farms Road, Tucson, AZ and drives him to Safeway, 7100 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ.

9:54 AM, 1/8/2011: Cab driver and Loughner enter Safeway to get change for fare.

10:10 AM, 1/8/2011: Loughner opens fire. Nineteen people wounded: 6 fatalities, 13 injured.

10:11 AM, 1/8/2011: Pima County Sheriff's Department receives 911 call of shooting at Safeway, 7100 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ.

10:14 AM, 1/8/2011: First medical unit, Rural Metro Fire Rescue 76 (Paramedic Unit) dispatched to shooting at Safeway, 7100 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ

10:15 AM, 1/8/2011: Deputy Audetat is first deputy on scene and detains suspect

10:16 AM, 1/8/2011: Deputy Patino second on scene at Safeway, 7100 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ and secures weapon

10:19 AM, 1/8/2011: Medical personnel begin arriving on scene

10:31 AM, 1/8/2011: Southwest Ambulance, Paramedic 831 on scene at Safeway, 7100 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ.

10:41 AM, 1/8/2011: Southwest Ambulance, Paramedic 831 transported Congresswoman Giffords to UMC

10:50 AM, 1/8/2011: Suspect transported to Foothills Substation, 7300 N. Shannon Road, Tucson, AZ.

6:59 PM, 1/8/2011: Warrant served at Loughner's parents' residence. 7700 block N. Soledad Ave."

[klaasend]

http://www.kvoa.com/news/giffords-upgraded-to-serious-condition/

Giffords upgraded to serious condition

Posted: Jan 16, 2011 4:24 PM
Updated: Jan 16, 2011 4:25 PM



TUCSON - Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been upgraded to serious condition at University Medical Center.

In an emailed statement, UMC officials say Congresswoman Giffords is no longer on a ventilator and is breathing on her own.

On Saturday morning, a tracheotomy was performed on Congresswoman Giffords.

Two other patients injured in last Saturday's shooting are in good condition.

There will be a media briefing on Monday at 11 a.m. at UMC.

Stay with News-4 Tucson for further updates.

[klaasend]

http://www.kvoa.com/news/husband-discusses-giffords-progress-in-interview/

Husband discusses Giffords' progress in interview

Posted: Jan 17, 2011 10:21 AM

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband says she's doing so well that she insisted on giving him a 10-minute neck massage from her hospital bed.

In an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer that will air Tuesday, astronaut Mark Kelly says the gesture shows that his wife is improving and that her spirit and their personal bond remain strong.

Kelly told Sawyer that he reminded Giffords she's in intensive care and needed her rest. But the act was typical for her to look out for others.

Kelly also said he would be willing to meet with the parents of suspect Jared Loughner, who is accused of trying to assassinate Giffords. The attack wounded her and 12 others and killed six.

[klaasend]

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_3589e426-229b-11e0-80e0-001cc4c03286.html

Giffords' grit will see her through, friends say

Tom Beal, Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Monday, January 17, 2011 5:34 pm

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ rides motorcycles and horses.

She runs and rollerblades.

She spent a semester in Spain as a teenager and later traveled through rural Mexico alone as a Fulbright scholar.

Her friends and colleagues are realistic about the difficulty of recovering from traumatic brain injury. They also are convinced that her physical fitness and mentally toughness will help her pull through.

“This is a person who has a relentless work ethic,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. “She lives, sleeps and breathes getting the job done. That applies to her job in Congress, in the campaign and now to her job of getting better.”

People need to recognize that Giffords has sustained a massive injury and has an arduous journey ahead of her, Wasserman Schultz said. But: “If there is anyone I know who can come back from an incident like this, it’s Gabby.”

In the week since Giffords was gravely wounded in an  attempted assassination, the entire community has  rejoiced at every hint of improvement — squeezing the hand of husband Mark Kelly, opening her eyes, dangling her legs over the bed in the intensive-care unit, breathing on her own.

Supporters have become accustomed to a “miracle every 48 hours,” said Michael McNulty, Giffords’ perennial campaign chairman.

.

“The rhetorical problem is that the doctors always say: ‘Given what she’s been through, she’s doing wonderfully.’ That’s kind of like saying ‘They’re going to China, and given that they have to walk, they’re doing great.’

“But I’ll say this — to the extent that prayer and good wishes can help people, she’ll be rollerblading by the 1st of March.”

Giffords’ friend and staffer Pam Simon, who is recovering from two gun shot wounds, said shortly after her release from the hospital that many elements of Giffords’ life story suggest she will battle back from whatever damage a  bullet caused when it traversed the left hemisphere of her brain.

Simon mentioned Giffords’ tireless commitment to representing her congressional district that includes nearly weekly “red-eye” flights to keep in touch with her constituents.

She cited her adventurousness.

“She’s just a plucky young woman,” Simon said.

When Giffords is in Tucson, she rollerblades regularly on the asphalt track around Reid Park, or runs or goes on long bicycle rides. Her friend Linda McNulty said she often meets her walking the steep dirt road up Tumamoc Hill.

She’s very fit, said friend Tom Zoellner, but her discipline and mental toughness may be even more remarkable.

She demonstrates her mental toughness every two years when she has to ask voters for her job, Zoellner said, particularly in the most recent election when the level of rhetoric reached fever pitch.

Giffords was born into a prominent Tucson family, the potential heir to a Tucson business, El Campo Tire, founded  in 1949 by her grandfather, Gif Giffords. Giffords was a fixture in Tucson’s business scene and so were the company’s “buck-stretcher” TV commercials.

Giffords started her career, reluctantly, in the family business in 1996 — the year she earned a master’s degree from Cornell University.

She had been on the track to success since her graduation from University High School in Tucson in 1988.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Scripps College, a private woman’s college in Claremont, Calif., where she earned several scholastic honors and awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship to study Mennonite missions in Mexico. She received a master’s in regional planning from Cornell University in 1996.

She had taken a job in New York City with the accounting Firm Price Waterhouse.

“It seemed like the beginning of a grand and glittering adventure in the big city: posh apartments, pointy-toed shoes and maybe even my first martini,” she said in a 2009 commencement address at Scripps.

Then her father Spencer Giffords, whose longtime partner and business manager had retired, asked her to return home to run the family business.

Within months, Giffords,  then 27, had taken the reins as president and CEO of the firm, which had 11 outlets, 100 employees and $11 million in annual sales.

Four years later she oversaw the sale of the company to Goodyear Tire and made her first run for office in 2000, winning a seat in the Arizona House of Representatives.

A move to politics was no shock to those who knew Giffords well. Growing up, she had a reputation for being chatty and social. Her friends even predicted in a “Believe It or Not” section of her high school yearbook that she would be a “TV spokesperson.”

Those traits have served her well in the public arena.

Giffords is known for her accessibility. She almost always takes questions at public events. Her handlers know to schedule in “schmooze time” so she can meet people one-on-one.

In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona Senate.

“People are so excited and energized by a young person who has new ideas and energy and is not stuck in a pattern of thinking because they haven’t been there long,” Giffords told the Star a few years later. “When a new person comes in, it’s like a child that declares the emperor has no clothes.”

Giffords was re-elected to the Senate in 2004.

She was given a 100 percent rating by the Sierra Club for her votes on environmental legislation and in true moderate fashion, crafted her arguments in economic form.

“For me, there’s a very strong link between having sound environmental policies and a sound economy,” she told the Star. “Quality of life issues, such as clean air, clean water and the availability of parks and open space, can be critical factors for companies contemplating moving to Arizona.”

She also began her career-long interest and support for science, sponsoring a bill that limited outside lighting to cut down on light pollution, again crafting it as an economic strategy on behalf of Arizona’s $100 million astronomy industry.

By 2005, she had earned a reputation for bipartisanship, hard work and accomplishment — not tomention cheerfulness.

In a session-ending editorial that year, the Star awarded her the title of “cheeriest legislator,” saying “cheery is just the opening: Giffords wins praise from people on both sides of the aisle for her intelligence, her diligence at research and the way she treats ‘state senator’ like a real job instead of a title.”

When Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe announced his plans to retire in 2005, Giffords was ready. She was among 11 candidates who lined up to claim the job.

The Republicans chose conservative Randy Graf, a former Arizona representative whose platform embraced one major theme: illegal immigration and its effects on Arizona’s border counties. The sprawling 9,000-square-mile 8th Congressional District runs for 114 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a sometimes nasty primary against five other Democrats, Giffords fended off charges that she was a Republican in Democratic clothing.

In the general election, she staked out middle ground on the immigration debate, telling a voter in Bisbee:

“We need enforcement-plus. We need money for high-tech solutions, not low-tech, Vietnam-era solutions. We need to get tough on employers, and we need to make sure we have a guest-worker program so people can come in and work — legally, safely — and go home.”

Ads run on behalf of Graf by the Minuteman organization said “Giffords is a liberal extremist who supports Spanish ballots, amnesty and even citizenship for illegals.”

The moderate positions worked for Giffords against Graf in 2006 and again in 2008 against more moderate Steve Huffman.

In her first two terms in Congress, Giffords championed solar energy, scientific research and the space program.

“I love the job,” Giffords said in 2008. “It’s hard; It’s demanding in ways that you’d never know.”

In November of 2007 Giffords married Mark Kelly, a Navy captain and space shuttle astronaut.

Giffords and Kelly met in China while part of an exchange program with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations in 2003. She was an Arizona legislator; he lived in Houston.

For their first date, the pair went on a warden-guided tour of the maximum-security Arizona State Prison in Florence.

They shared their first kiss at Club Congress, where they went to see a band.

The 2010 election was more contentious than earlier ones.

Republicans nominated Jesse Kelly, a Tea Party favorite who plugged into the anti-incumbent mood of the country.

Giffords was slammed by Kelly for her support of the president’s health-care legislation and the economic stimulus bills.

Town hall meetings on health care were contentious and at times rowdy. Giffords was “thunderously booed” the first time she told a group that the United States, “the greatest nation on Earth” was one of the few developed nations that did not guarantee health care for all its citizens, said C.J. Karamargin, Giffords’ communications director.

She did not drop the line from subsequent meetings, he said.

Giffords won re-election, just barely, her usual 10-point margin pared to a 1.4 percent victory over Kelly.

“I’m not elated to be in the minority,” she said as Republicans’ took control of the House this month, “but my job isn’t to be in the majority. It’s to do the work and I’m looking forward to doing that starting next week.”

Giffords continued to meet the public and, when re-elected, resumed her “Congress on your corner” meet-and-greet sessions.

She drove herself to the first meeting of the year at the Oracle and Ina Safeway on Sunday, January 9.

She has been in the intensive-care unit at University Medical Center ever since, husband Mark Kelly at her side.

Wasserman Schultz was one of three congresswomen present when Giffords opened her unbandaged right eye on Wednesday.

“As she was struggling to get her eyes open, you could see all the determination in  her face — willing her eyes open. It’s just really classic Gabby Giffords, this battling back,” Wasserman Schultz said Monday.

Reporter Veronica Cruz contributed to this story.

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