Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford of Southern Arizona Shot At Constituent Event
 

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/08/...pt=T1&iref=BN1

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords barely won re-election to her post after being targeted by Palin last year. She was in Tucson at a Safeway meeting with constituents when a gunman opened fire on her and her staff. Apparently, she was shot "point blank in the head" and 10 people were sent to the hospital. AZ- Alpha Xi, AzTheta and I are freaking out! They are in Tucson so are getting all the local news. I'll try to gather the local news reports to post.

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/08/132764...na?sc=fb&cc=fp

NPR reports that she died as well as six others. I'm amazingly sad. I'll wait to see what was behind this act, but I can't help but think that our political debate has risen to a boiling temperature, and Congresswoman Gifford was a casualty. May she, and the others who died today in this horrible event, rest in peace.

I just saw this. Holy hell.

Ditto.

Awful situation.

I'm in utter shock. She spoke at a Panhellenic brunch in Tucson during her first term.

Local tv station is now reporting that she is alive and in surgery.

According to local reporting in Tucson, Congresswoman Giffords is not dead but is in surgery. AzTheta tells me that a local news channel is still reporting that she is alive in surgery. Is NPR and CNN prematurely reporting her death? Weird. Could be she is in surgery as an organ donor. I don't know, but it's awfully confusing with the conflicting reports (I have no links since these are tv reports.) NPR and CNN links are sketchy.

http://www.cnn.com/ See the headline then check the story which has not changed.

Really? Was she a sorority member?

Waiting for a press conference that is scheduled to be held at University Medical Center here in Tucson at 1:30 pm MST.

Source of reports for CNN and NPR is the Pima County Sheriff's Office, but that isn't confirmed. Information and rumors flying in all directions.

Praying for skilled neurosurgeons; for the families and friends of all affected. Tucson is in shock.

Someone in that office should be fired if this report was wrong.

Rep. Giffords' office has asked the media to retract all reports of her death. We may know more when the press conference is held.

Ah hah! Keep us informed of the news from the news conference, Maria, please.

Sidebar: It's since been taken down from her website, but apparently, Sarah Palin had targeted Giffords with her "help us prescribe the solution" ad (with crosshairs).

link

You can also go to KOLD TV (google it, sorry I'm not too coherent, glued to the television) and they are live streaming; the press conference will be covered. Angela, I'll be in touch w/ you via FB.

Whoa...

Arizona is the Mississippi of the 21st century, it seems.

Now there are reports that Chief Judge John Roll of the US District Court in AZ was also shot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCarthy_Roll

He was included in Janet Napolitano's condolences.

UMC press conference is currently going on. The neurosurgeon reported that Gabrielle Giffords is out of surgery, and he is optimistic about her recovery because she was shot "through and through on one side of her head" and is following commands. That is great! Unfortunately, at UMC they had one patient die, a 9 year old child.

I'm glad that she responded well to surgery. One thing that pops to mind though is how this happened. Both a Federal Judge and a Member of Congress were attacked and badly wounded. Where were the Capitol Police and the Marshals?

It happened in a supermarket parking lot in Tucson.

The alleged shooter was arrested. His name is Jared Loughner. If you google him, some really freaky YouTube videos pop up that provide insight into his motive.

This one is particularly scary: http://www.casttv.com/video/pu4epa8/...loughner-video

He's clearly mentally unstable.

But hey, let's blame Sarah Palin and the Tea Party (the gist of facebook feed currently).

Uhh..yeah...WTF?

I agree that he is mentally unstable. The argument can be made, though, that mentally unstable people can be swayed by hyperbolic arguments made by people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. Reasonable people can see through their theatrics, but some people cannot. We've already had someone attempt to gun down people at The Tides Foundation because of the rhetoric he heard on Glenn Beck's show. I think we just ALL need to tone it down quite a bit. We've had more than one Tea Party political favorite suggest a "2nd Amendment remedy" if they don't get their way. Well, they didn't get their way and unseat Congresswoman Giffords. The majority of Tea Party members/believers are normal people who just have a different political viewpoint, but these kinds of vitriolic statements can push a mentally unstable person to exercise that remedy.

This is really unnecessary. I belive most level-headed people are simply waiting for the facts.

^^^I wholeheartedly agree. Apologies if my sarcasm did not come across.

I do believe Sarah Palin would be truly remorseful if the shooter said he did it because of anything she said. I don't think anyone believes that she wanted someone to put Congresswoman Giffords in real crosshairs.

No, your sarcasm did come across. I just think it would be wise to refrain from making any political statements right now. This includes complaining about those who are complaining.

Well then color me unwise. It's completely inappropriate that people are placing direct blame on politics instead of the perpetrator, which is exactly what some people are doing.

If you look for angry extremists you will find them.

Nothing happens in a vacuum.

Checking in from Tucson: waiting for another news conference that will be held at 6:00 pm or afterwards.

As a friend pointed out, there will be significant fallout in both the political and mental health realms as a consequence of today's events.

Please, if you can, offer a prayer for the families, friends, and all affected by this tragedy; and for continued skill for the medical personnel involved in caring for the survivors.

As I posted on my facebook, whether your democrat or republican, conservative or moderate, this should not be happening!

Absolutely senseless.

They are announcing now that there are six victims who are deceased including the federal judge and a 9 year old girl. How tragic for all involved. Their families and the citizens of Arizona are in my thoughts and prayers. They also said that 19 were shot in total, which is much higher than the original number of 12.

Looks like they're looking for a second suspect.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us...ffords.html?hp

Exactly!! There is no excuse period for such behavior.

I agree with the sarcasm stated earlier regarding the blaming of conservatives in the media. I have witnessed that on facebook as well this afternoon. There are just as many mentally unstable people on the left that would take the words of the liberal base to the extreme/out of context for ill purpose. No one is at fault here except the gunman and maybe an accomplice if that pans out.

Plus, the gunman has listed the Communist Manifesto as his favorite book -- so I doubt he's a Tea Partier.

Don't try to ascribe reason to a person who is clearly mentally ill. Choosing one point of interest about this man out of many interesting tidbits to try to fit your interests is as self serving as anyone else you're trying to discount. His rants about currencies based on "gold and silver" and unconstitutional "treasonous laws" and flags not mentioned in the constitution could clearly be twisted to have a Libertarian bent. But, I digress. This man appears to be mentally unstable and arguably targeted a Congresswoman because of anti-government delusions. If you are trying to say he was a Democrat, I'd say you are out of line.