The suspect involved in the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been identified, and is in custody, although investigators are still unsure of the details of what provoked the shooting. CNN and NPR's Dina Temple-Raston confirmed with law enforcement that the suspect is 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner.
Pima County Sheriff's officials said Loughner used a pistol to shoot the 12 people who are reported wounded. According to NPR, six people have died, including a nine-year-old girl and Federal Judge John McCarthy Roll. Roll was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to the U.S. District Court in Arizona in 1991, and had been chief judge in the district since 2006.
According to doctors, the bullet that struck Giffords went through her brain and out her skull. She is currently in critical condition, but doctors remain optimistic that she will recover.
Giffords, a Democrat, was first elected to the House in 2006. She scored a 92% on the Human Rights Campaign's Congressional Scorecard during the 111th session of Congress. She voted to repeal "don't ask, dont' tell," and was a cosponsor on several gay rights bills, including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which passed in 2009.
President Obama spoke to reporters at the White House, saying that this morning's events are "a tragedy for Arizona and a tragedy for our entire country." He also asked Americans to keep victims in their prayers. Obama also said that FBI Director Robert Mueller is enroute to Arizona to coordinate the investigation.
A MySpace page reported to have been created by Loughner "was removed [from the site] with in minutes of the gunman being identified by U.S.officials. It included a mysterious 'Goodbye friends' message published hours before the shooting which exhorted his friends to "Please don't be mad at me,'" according to the Associated Press.
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