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

[klaasend]

Saving for the record Jared L. Loughner's Youtube profile:



http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10#p/a/f/0/3L1lsLU-kUw

[MuffyBee]

Good save, Klaas.  I like it when things are kept "for the record", so even if they disappear, they aren't gone.  

[no rose colored glasses]

Good save, Klaas.  I like it when things are kept "for the record", so even if they disappear, they aren't gone.  

I find his reading interests fascinating, certainly all over the place with his likes.

[klaasend]

Good save, Klaas.  I like it when things are kept "for the record", so even if they disappear, they aren't gone.  

I find his reading interests fascinating, certainly all over the place with his likes.

Not quite as cut and dry as some of the media is saying this morning. 

[klaasend]

Jared subscribed to Rep Gifford's youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/giffords2#p/u




NOTE:  We have no way of knowing when he subscribed to the account but the FBI knows

PREMEDITATION

[no rose colored glasses]

I've been listening to MSNBC all morning, and they had a girl on who knew Jared in high school, they were in band together. Evidently Jared had asked Representative Giffords a question, it sounded like she had gone to their high school for some event. She evidently didn't understand his ramblings and when she answered Jared, he said to his friend that she was stupid. I don't see a link on MSNBC's website, but this girl also has been tweeting about Jared, I'm sure this friend's name will be popping up all over.

[no rose colored glasses]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/09/jared-loughner-youtube-videos-_n_806370.html         Article about Jared's possible involvement with a hate group.   

[no rose colored glasses]

Loughner's college instructor: I was worried he might have a gun in class
By David A. Fahrenthold

A community college instructor who taught Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner was so disturbed by the student's outbursts in class that he requested Loughner's removal from the course, he told the Washington Post in an interview Sunday.

Ben McGahee, a third-year instructor at Pima Community College, taught Loughner in an elementary algebra class last summer. McGahee said that while Loughner never threatened him directly, he was concerned by his behavior.

"I always felt, you know, somewhat paranoid," McGahee said. "When I turned my back to write on the board, I would always turn back quickly--to see if he had a gun."

McGahee said he had to make several complaints before administrators finally removed Loughner.

"They just said, 'Well, he hasn't taken any action to hurt anyone. He hasn't provoked anybody. He hasn't brought any weapons to class,'" McGahee recalled. "'We'll just wait until he takes that next step.'"

On his first day in class, McGahee said, Loughner yelled out a random number during a lesson, then asked the instructor a strange question. "How can you deny math instead of accepting it?" he yelled.

Other times, McGahee said, Loughner would listen to his iPod in class. On quizzes, he would answer some questions accurately, and then write nonsensical answers for others. On one, he wrote "Mayhemfest!" McGahee said he thought that was a reference to a rock-music festival: a concert tour called The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival played in Phoenix last July.

On another test, McGahee said, Loughner wrote the words "Eat+Sleep+Brush Teeth=Math." "He just miserably failed the test," McGahee said.

Finally, several weeks into the class, McGahee said Loughner arrived and pointed to a copy of the U.S. Constitution on the wall.

"'You're violating my First Amendment right of free speech,'" McGahee recalled him saying. "That's when I went to go get the dean."

At that point, he said, a college official came to talk with Loughner, then assured McGahee that he would not return to class. "You don't have to worry about Jared anymore. We asked him to not come back to class," the official said, according to McGahee.

[no rose colored glasses]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/loughners-college-instructor-i.html?wprss=44  Link to above article

[klaasend]

I've been listening to MSNBC all morning, and they had a girl on who knew Jared in high school, they were in band together. Evidently Jared had asked Representative Giffords a question, it sounded like she had gone to their high school for some event. She evidently didn't understand his ramblings and when she answered Jared, he said to his friend that she was stupid. I don't see a link on MSNBC's website, but this girl also has been tweeting about Jared, I'm sure this friend's name will be popping up all over.

I was reading this girls twitter yesterday, yes she has been giving interviews.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12147334
(video)
Woman tackled Jared Loughner after he shot her
January 9, 2011

A woman who tackled the gunman who shot congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, and 19 other people in Arizona has been praised by police.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik told journalists the woman grabbed a magazine of bullets from the man as he was trying to reload his gun. She had also been shot by him.

Two men then grabbed him.

Six people died in the shooting, which happened as Ms Giffords was meeting constituents at a supermarket in Tucson.

[no rose colored glasses]

Authorities clear man called 'person of interest' in Giffords shooting case

    * Story

Authorities clear man called 'person of interest' in Giffords shooting case

By Kim Smith, Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Sunday, January 9, 2011 2:44 am

Font Size:
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    *
    *

Detectives with the Pima County Sheriff's Department has interviewed the "person of interest" in Saturday's mass shooting and cleared him of any wrongdoing.

The man, a cab driver, told detectives he gave Jared L. Loughner a ride to the Safeway and they entered the store together so Loughner could obtain change to pay his fare, said Bureau Chief Richard Kastigar.

Records substantiate the driver dropped Loughner off at 9:59 a.m., Kastigar said. Loughner was picked up nearby.

The first report of a shooting came in 10:11 a.m. and paramedics were on scene at 10:16 a.m., Kastigar said.

FBI Director Robert Mueller announced this morning he anticipates federal charges will be filed this afternoon against Loughner in the shooting death of U.S. District Judge John Roll and the woundings of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her staff members.

Discussions are underway as to the filing of state charges in regards to the other shooting victims, Mueller said.

[MuffyBee]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704482704576072020422761968.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Shooting Captured on Surveillance Video
January 9, 2011

The scene where a congresswoman was shot Saturday was captured on surveillance video, according to law enforcement officials.

The video shows federal judge John Roll chatting with an aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D. Ariz.) moments before the violence erupts, according to officials. Judge Roll was killed in the attack, along with five others. Ms. Giffords remains in critical condition.

After the shooting, investigators searched a safe connected to the shooting suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, and found a letter apparently sent to him by Ms. Giffords's office thanking him for previously attending a similar "Congress on your corner" event in 2007.

Much remains unknown about what motivated Mr. Loughner, who is in custody. But the initial evidence, including the constituent letter, has led law enforcement officials to think that the suspect had been thinking about the congresswoman for years, according to people familiar with the case.

Investigators also found paper on which the suspect apparently wrote the word "assassination" and "I planned ahead." The meaning or significance of that writing isn't clear.

The suspect has been uncooperative with investigators, according to law enforcement officials. Charges are expected to be filed later Sunday.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller said the charges would include the attack on Ms. Giffords and Judge Roll and other victims, with later additional charges likely. Investigators seized computers during a search of the suspect's home, and Mr. Mueller said those were being examined.

[klaasend]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/09/arizona-suspected-gunman-no-stranger-to-trouble/

Arizona Suspected Gunman Passed FBI Background Check
By Jana Winter
Published January 09, 2011

New details emerging about the suspected shooter behind Saturday's deadly rampage reveal a 22-year-old man with a troubled past who law enforcement say may have been influenced by American Renaissance, a pro-white publication.

And FoxNews.com has learned that the suspect purchased a firearm legally — and after passing an FBI background check — from Sportsman's Warehouse's Tucson store in November, the company's vice president of hunting operations told FoxNews.com.

Loughner did not present a concealed weapons permit so he was required to pass an FBI background check, which he did "immediately and without incident," said Matt French, speaking from the Sportsman's Warehouse's Utah headquarters.

"To my knowledge, the firearm purchase was without incident," French said.

He could not confirm whether the gun purchased in November was the same gun allegedly used in Saturday's mass shooting, but said it was the only recent firearm purchase made by the suspect at their stores.

"Sportsman's Warehouse is cooperating fully with the authorities in investigating this horrible tragedy," he said.

"Our sincere condolences go to those affected by this unspeakable incident."

This comes as a law enforcement memo based on information provided by the Department of Homeland Security and obtained by Fox News suggests that alleged gunman Jared Loughner — accused of killing six people, shooting Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and wounding 12 others — may have ties to the American Renaissance group, though it's unclear if he was directly affiliated with the publication or group.

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the group as "white nationalist" whose leader, Jared Taylor, is "a kind of modern-day version of the refined but racist colonialist of old."

The memo states that there is "no direct connection" between Loughner and the group, "but strong suspicion is being directed at AmRen / American Renaissance. Suspect is possibly linked to this group. (through videos posted on his MySpace and YouTube account.). The group's ideology is anti-government, anti-immigration, anti-ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti-Semitic."

The memo also includes information about the suspect's mother, who works for the Pima County Board of Supervisors and notes that Loughner has multiple arrests but no criminal record.

But Taylor, a 1973 graduate in philosophy from Yale University, told Fox News on Sunday that he had never heard of Loughner until Saturday and has checked the group's records going back 20 years and has not found any subscriptions for Loughner to American Renaissance publications.

He added he has no indication that Loughner ever attended any of the group's events, which have been held on the East Coast where the organization is based.

Taylor also denied references to the group as being "anti-ZOG."

"That is complete nonsense," he said. "I have absolutely no idea what DHS is talking about. We have never used the term 'ZOG.' We have never thought in those terms. If this is the level of research we are getting from DHS, then heaven help us," he said.

Loughner lives with his parents in a Tucson neighborhood that one neighbor described as part of an area that is notorious for "stash houses" for Mexican gangs to bring drugs into the U.S. and store them.

The neighbor, who asked only to be identified as Jon, said he volunteered at a phone bank for Giffords' 2008 congressional campaign. He said none of the neighbors seem to know any member of the Loughner household, which on Sunday was cordoned off. Two run-down jalopies outside the house along with a front walkway littered with empty paint buckets and a garden hose blocked the walkway and door while the entire front yard is covered in a tangled cactus tree.

Nothing like this has ever happened in this neighborhood. "We've had a number of good DEA busts," Jon said. "It's a shock, it really is. ... It's sad, it's been a sad day."

Another neighbor directly across from the home also did not want to give his name, but said a mother, son and father live at the house.

"They weren't real friendly," said the neighbor who described himself as 60 and retired. They mostly didn't talk to anyone and mainly stayed inside. "Loners," he called them.

Another neighbor, Anthony Woods, who was three years behind Loughner in school, said the father in the household was argumentative.

Woods said the dad would complain about everything from neighbors' trash cans on the street to standing too close to his property by the fence. Woods said law enforcement interviewed the mother and father at the Loughner house Saturday night.

"They confiscated a lot of things" from the house, he said.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said Saturday that Loughner had "a troubled past."

"I'm not a psychiatrist so I have no reason to believe the person was insane. Was he unstable? I would agree with that," he said.

Loughner was kicked out of Pima Community College following a series of run-ins with school officials and police at the colleges where he frequently caused disruptions in classrooms and elsewhere on campus, according to The Arizona Republic.

The tensions with school officials led to Loughner's production of a YouTube video in which he declared the college illegal, the newspaper reports.

The college said Loughner could only return if he received mental-health clearance, according to The Arizona Republic.

Loughner is suspected of posting a series of YouTube videos that show a focus on literacy and currency -- as well as his distrust in the government.

"Hello, my name is Jared Lee Loughner," one of the videos says, in words appearing on the screen. "This video is my introduction to you! My favorite activity is conscience dreaming; the greatest inspiration for my political business information. Some of you don't dream -- sadly."

The video, posted Dec. 15, later turns more political.

"The majority of citizens in the United States of America have never read the United States of America's Constitution. You don't have to accept the federalist laws," the video's titles say. "In conclusion, reading the second United States Constitution, I can't trust the current government because of the ratifications: the government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar. No! I won't pay debt with a currency that's not backed by gold and silver! No! I won't trust in god!"

Loughner's last writing on his MySpace page was just hours before the shooting.

"Goodbye friends," he wrote. "Please don't be mad at me."

Records obtained from the Pima County, Ariz., criminal database also show Loughner was arrested in 2007 for possessing drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor charge. The records suggest that Loughner paid a $20 fee and completed a court-ordered program for drug offenders.

Three months later he was cited for running a stop sign, according to court documents.

Another record shows a 2008 arrest for what’s described as a "local charge" in Marana, Ariz., 20 miles northwest of Tucson. The non-criminal charge was dismissed.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said that the gun used in Saturday's massacre was a Glock semi-automatic 9-mm. gun with extended magazine.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/09/arizona-suspected-gunman-no-stranger-to-trouble/#ixzz1AZP143cf

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/christina-green-shot-gabrielle-giffords-tuscon-event-loved/story?id=12576408
Video
Mother of Christina Green, Shot at Tucson Event, Says Daughter Wanted to Go Into Politics
Green Died of a Single Gunshot to the Chest, Mom Says
January 9, 2011

At just 9 years old, Christina Green already had big plans to one day serve her country.
Green, who was the youngest of the six victims shot and killed Saturday during the shooting spree outside a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store, had gone to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' political event to "learn more about politics," according to her mother, Roxanna Green.

"As young as she was, Christina talked about getting all the parties to come together so we could live in a better country," Green told ABC News. "She was going to Giffords' event to ask questions about how she could help and to learn more about politics in our country."

"She was proud of her country and wanted to know more about the political process," she said. "She was a beautiful girl inside and out."

Green, the granddaughter of former Phillies manager Dallas Green, was taken to Giffords' informal town hall meeting by a neighbor who was considered her pseudo-aunt, said her mother.

She died on the scene from a single bullet wound to her chest, when alleged gunman Jared Loughner opened fire, shooting a total of 20 people.

"She had a great morning, she got up early yesterday morning and was talking about the event, and how excited she was," said Green of her daughter's final hours. "She was very mature for her age."

Christina was born on 9/11 and had used her birthdate as a source of inspiration during her short life. She was featured in a book about babies born on 9/11 called "Faces of Hope."

"She was very interested in politics since she was a little girl," Green said. "I think that being born on 9/11 had a lot to do with that."

"She always thought about how she was born on 9/11, and she saw the positive in it," Green said. "She thought of it as a day of hope and change, a chance for the country to come together to be united."

Third grade had already been off to a good start for Christina, who was recently elected student council president at Mesa Verde Elementary School.

In addition to politics, Christina loved to dance and was the only girl on her baseball team, the Pirates, in what is otherwise an all-boys little league.

"She was very popular, she was a girly girl as well as as a tomboy," Green said. "She had done ballet for many years and gymnastics, and wanted to be a cheerleader."

Raised in an observant Catholic household, Christina had just received her first communion at the St. Odilia's Catholic Church, where she was also a member of the choir.

In her free time, Christina loved to take care of her older brother, 11-year-old Dallas who has Asberger's Syndrome, which is on the spectrum of autism disorders.

"She always was very strong and positive for him," Green said.

A Facebook group in memory of Green has been inundated by messages left by strangers devastated over the young girl's death.

One person wrote, "There are no words to comfort the loss of a child by needless violence. May time heal your pain."

Another message read, "From Joint Base Balad, Iraq -- my deepest condolences to the family over the loss of this young patriot and hero. With much sadness, very respectfully James J. Galluzzo III, Major US Army."

Green said she hopes that her daughter's death brings change to the political landscape in the United States.

"All I want is awareness and change, just like Christina would," Green said.

"Things like this should never, ever happen again," she said. "I want there to be a stop for the violence and hatred and all the bashing of politicians isn't not helping, and it's not working."

[MuffyBee]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010902186.html
Christina-Taylor Green, 9-year-old killed in Tucson, remembered, mourned
January 9, 2011


In this undated photo provided by the Green family and distributed by the Arizona Republic newspaper, Christina Green, 9, poses for a photo. Green was one of those killed in an attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., a three-term lawmaker, who was shot in the head. (AP)

Christina-Taylor Green's short life was pinned between two national tragedies: She was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and she died Saturday as a gunman apparently targeting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) shot 20 people in Tucson.

Christina-Taylor, a budding elementary school politician, was among those killed. The third-grader had gone to meet Giffords with a neighbor when a gunman, identified by authorities as 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, opened fire at a political meet-and-greet outside a grocery store. Christina-Taylor died at University Medical Center.

The 9-year-old, who had big brown eyes and long brown hair, had recently been elected to the student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School. She had been interested in politics early on, her father, John Green said Saturday night in an interview with the Arizona Daily Star.

She was a good speaker, athletic and patriotic, her mother, Roxanna Green, told the paper. Christina-Taylor was inspired by her birth on the day of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, her family said. She was one of 50 babies born on the date featured in a book called "Faces of Hope."

"She was born back east and Sept. 11 affected everyone there, and Christina-Taylor was always very aware of it," her mother told the Star. "She was very patriotic and wearing red, white and blue was really special to her."

As a student council member, Christina-Taylor would have been a leader in her large school district. In the past, elementary school students who were elected to student councils had attended school board meetings and led the pledge of allegiance, said Jeff Grant, board president for Amphitheater Public Schools - a district of 15,000 students.

Grant described Mesa Verde, which has students from kindergarten to fifth grade, as a close-knit. "It's just a tragedy that I think the entire community is in the grips of right now," he said.

John Green is a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers and her grandfather is former major league pitcher and ex-Philadelphia Phillies manager Dallas Green, according to ESPN.

The elder Green managed the Phillies from 1979 to 1981, winning a World Series title in 1980. He went on to manage the Yankees and the Mets.

Christina-Taylor shared her family's love of baseball. She was the only girl to play on Canyon del Oro Little League baseball team, the Pirates. She played second base, according to local news reports.

She had one sibling, an 11-year-old brother named Dallas, and the two loved to go swimming together, her parents said.

"She kept up with everyone, she was a strong girl, a very good athlete and a strong swimmer," her mother said. "She was interested in everything. She got a guitar for Christmas, so her next thing was learning to play guitar."

Christina-Taylor had just received her first Holy Communion at St. Odilia's Catholic Church in Tucson, Catholic Diocese of Tucson officials told the Arizona Daily Star. Her uncle Greg Segalini told the Arizona Republic, "She was real special and real sweet."

The girl was already aware of the "inequalities" of the world, Roxanna Green told the the Arizona Daily Star. Christina-Taylor often repeated the same phrase to her mother: "We are so blessed. We have the best life."

[klaasend]

http://www.kvoa.com/news/obama-calls-for-nat-l-moment-of-silence-flags-at-half-staff/

Obama calls for Nat'l moment of silence, flags at half-staff

Posted: Jan 9, 2011 12:56 PM
Updated: Jan 9, 2011 12:57 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Obama has released a statement calling on a national moment of silence tomorrow at 11 a.m., and signed a proclamation ordering flags be flown at half-staff as a mark of respect for the victims of the "senseless act of violence" committed yesterday morning.

Obama's statement:

"Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern standard time, I call on Americans to observe a moment of silence to honor the innocent victims of the senseless tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, including those still fighting for their lives. It will be a time for us to come together as a nation in prayer or reflection, keeping the victims and their families closely at heart."

The President will observe the moment of silence with White House staff on the South Lawn.

The signed proclamation ordering flags be flown at half-staff reads:

"As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on Saturday, January 8, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, January 14, 2011. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.


BARACK OBAMA"

That will be:

8am Pacific
9am Mountain Standard
10am Central
11am Eastern

[klaasend]

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=13811064

Intern rushes to help Congresswoman Giffords
Posted: Jan 09, 2011 10:56 AM PST Updated: Jan 09, 2011 11:51 AM PST

By Karla Ronquillo

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - An intern who had been on the job for five days is being credited for giving U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords critical help moments after the shooting.

Giffords was one of 19 people wounded when a gunman opened fire at a "Congress on Your Side" event in Marana on Saturday.
Six of victims were killed, including a federal judge, a nine-year-old girl and a member of Giffords' staff.

The suspected gunman Jared Loughner, 22, is in police custody.

A second person of interest is being sought.

According to University Medical Center officials, Daniel Hernandez ran to Giffords' side, pulled her onto his lap and held her head upright to help stop the bleeding.

Hernandez, a junior at the University of Arizona, is a trained nurse.

In an interview to CNN, Hernandez said "when the shooting started, my first instinct was to try and make sure that the congresswoman and her staff were okay.  I have limited experience in triage and training, so when I heard gunshots, my first instinct was to head towards the congresswoman to make sure that she was okay. Once I saw that she was down and there were more than one victim, I went ahead and started doing the limited triage that I could with what I had, so checking for pulses and then also making sure that -- covering and applying pressure to the wounds."

Hernandez said he stayed with Giffords until paramedics arrived and rode with her in the ambulance.

[klaasend]

http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=13810987

Red Cross seeks type O blood Sunday for shooting victims
Posted: Jan 09, 2011 10:28 AM PST Updated: Jan 09, 2011 10:42 AM PST

Reporter: Sheryl Kornman

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - The Red Cross is conducting a special blood drive Sunday seeking only O positive and O negative blood.

Only those with O positive or O negative blood are being sought to donate at two sites Red Cross on Sunday:

The Red Cross offices set up for these donations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. are:

Eastside
7139 E. Broadway at Kolb

Northside
Foothills Mall. South side, second floor
7401 N. La Cholla Blvd

Anyone else who wants to donate blood should make an appointment online to donate at another time.

Go to www.redcrossblood.org.

[klaasend]

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=13811064

Intern rushes to help Congresswoman Giffords
Posted: Jan 09, 2011 10:56 AM PST Updated: Jan 09, 2011 11:51 AM PST

By Karla Ronquillo

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - An intern who had been on the job for five days is being credited for giving U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords critical help moments after the shooting.

Giffords was one of 19 people wounded when a gunman opened fire at a "Congress on Your Side" event in Marana on Saturday.
Six of victims were killed, including a federal judge, a nine-year-old girl and a member of Giffords' staff.

The suspected gunman Jared Loughner, 22, is in police custody.

A second person of interest is being sought.

According to University Medical Center officials, Daniel Hernandez ran to Giffords' side, pulled her onto his lap and held her head upright to help stop the bleeding.

Hernandez, a junior at the University of Arizona, is a trained nurse.

In an interview to CNN, Hernandez said "when the shooting started, my first instinct was to try and make sure that the congresswoman and her staff were okay.  I have limited experience in triage and training, so when I heard gunshots, my first instinct was to head towards the congresswoman to make sure that she was okay. Once I saw that she was down and there were more than one victim, I went ahead and started doing the limited triage that I could with what I had, so checking for pulses and then also making sure that -- covering and applying pressure to the wounds."

Hernandez said he stayed with Giffords until paramedics arrived and rode with her in the ambulance.

More on the above:

http://tucsoncitizen.com/mark-evans/archives/393

Daniel Hernandez, UA intern, stays by Gabrielle Giffords’ side
by Mark B. Evans on Jan. 09, 2011, under Politics
UA student pulls her into lap, holds head to stop bleeding

by Jaimee Rose and Mary Jo Pitzl – Jan. 9, 2011 12:01 AM
The Arizona Republic

Daniel Hernandez had been U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ intern for five days when she was shot Saturday outside Tucson.

The junior at the University of Arizona was helping check people in at the “Congress on Your Corner” event when he heard gunfire. He was about 30 feet from the congresswoman. When the shots began, he ran toward them.

“I don’t even know if the gunfire had stopped,” he said Saturday night as he kept a vigil at the University Medical Center cafeteria, gathered near a TV watching tributes and getting updates.

When the shots began that morning, he saw many people lying on the ground, including a young girl. Some were bleeding. Hernandez said he moved from person to person checking pulses.

“First the neck, then the wrist,” he said. One man was already dead. Then he saw Giffords. She had fallen and was lying contorted on the sidewalk. She was bleeding.

Using his hand, Hernandez applied pressure to the entry wound on her forehead. He pulled her into his lap, holding her upright against him so she wouldn’t choke on her own blood. Giffords was conscious, but quiet.

Ron Barber, Giffords’ district director, was next to her. Hernandez told a bystander how to apply pressure to one of Barber’s wounds.

Barber told Hernandez, “Make sure you stay with Gabby. Make sure you help Gabby.”

Hernandez used his hand to apply pressure until someone from inside Safeway brought him clean smocks from the meat department. He used them to apply pressure on the entrance wound, unaware there was an exit wound. He never let go of her.

He stayed with Giffords until paramedics arrived. They strapped her to a board and loaded her into an ambulance. Hernandez climbed in with her. On the ride to the hospital, he held her hand. She squeezed his back.

When they arrived at the hospital, Hernandez was soaked in blood. His family brought him clean clothes because the FBI took his for evidence.

He waited at the hospital while she went into surgery. He needed to tell police what had happened. He overheard people walking by talking about how Giffords had died. He also heard this on NPR. Later, he learned she had lived.

“I was ecstatic,” he said. “She was one of the people I’ve looked up to. Knowing she was alive and still fighting was good news. She’s definitely a fighter, whether for her own life, or standing up for people in southern Arizona.”

The fact that Hernandez was nearby and able to react quickly probably saved Giffords’ life, said state Rep. Matt Heinz, D-Tucson, and a hospital physician. He talked to Hernandez at the hospital after the shooting.

Eight hours after the shooting, Hernandez stood with Giffords’ friends and staff and told them what had happened. The tall, strong 20-year-old said, “Of course you’re afraid, you just kind of have to do what you can.”

They hugged and thanked him. Later, he sat with his mom and sisters and told them about his friends and the staffers who had died that day.

“You just have to be calm and collected,” he said. “You do no good to anyone if you have a breakdown. . . . It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots, but people needed help.”