As of right now doctors at the University Medical Center say
"Congresswomen is not deceased."
UPDATES:
On April 23, 2010 U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords released the following statement after U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva closed his Tucson and Yuma offices because of threats.
The threats came after Grijalva called for an economic boycott of Arizona to pressure Gov. Jan Brewer into vetoing a controversial immigration bill that authorizes local law enforcement to check immigration status given reasonable suspicion. Brewer signed the bill into law this afternoon.
I am deeply troubled about reports that Congressman Grijalva and members of his staff have been subjected to death threats. This is not how we, as Americans, express our political differences.
I know from the recent act of vandalism at my Tucson office that intimidation has no place in our representative democracy. Such acts only make it more difficult for us to resolve our differences.
I have said that I strongly disagree with Congressman Grijalva’s call for a boycott of Arizona businesses. I believe that a boycott would hurt Arizona’s families and businesses at a time when our state’s economy is taking the first steps toward recovery after a devastating recession.
However, resorting to vandalism and threats to express political viewpoints is unacceptable. We must work together as a nation to enforce federal immigration laws and strengthen border security.
Her father Spencer Giffords, 75, wept when asked if his 40-year-old daughter had any enemies.
"Yeah,"
he told The New York Post.
"The whole tea party."
Miss Giffords had been named in March as a political campaign target for conservatives in November’s elections by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin for her strong support for the health reforms of President Barack Obama.
Chief Judge John Roll has also died in the shooting. Roll was appointed to the US. District Court for the District of Arizona in 1991 by George H.W. Bush, and served as the court’s lead judicial administrative officer.
Roll received death threats in 2009 after he ruled that a case filed by illegal immigrants against an Arizona rancher could go forward. Four men were identified, but Roll did not press charges on the advice of the Marshals Service:
In February, when U.S. District Judge John Roll presided over a $32 million civil-rights lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants against an Arizona rancher, the Marshals Service was anticipating the fallout.
When Roll ruled the case could go forward, Gonzales said talk-radio shows cranked up the controversy and spurred audiences into making threats.
In one afternoon, Roll logged more than 200 phone calls. Callers threatened the judge and his family. They posted personal information about Roll online.
“They said, ‘We should kill him. He should be dead,’ ” Gonzales said.
Roll, who is the chief federal judge in Arizona, said both he and his wife were given a protection detail for about a month.
“It was unnerving and invasive. . . . By its nature it has to be,” Roll said, adding that they were encouraged to live their lives as normally as possible. “It was handled very professionally by the Marshals Service.”
At the end of the month, Roll said four key men had been identified as threat makers.
The Marshals Service left to him the decision to press charges but recommended against it. Roll said he had no qualms about following their advice.
The recommendation was based on the intent of those making the threats.
“I have a very strong belief that there is nothing wrong with criticizing a judicial decision,” he said. “But when it comes to threats, that is an entirely different matter.”
Roll has served as the chief judge of the District of Arizona since 2006.
Sarah Palin took down a controversial photo off her website of gunshot targets on Gabrielle Giffords and other politicians. Some are angry saying that she may have persuaded others to target Gabrielle. Check out that pic below:
After the photo was taken down, Sarah sent out a statement saying,
My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today's tragic shooting in Arizona. On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.
- Sarah Palin
She also tweeted a link to the statement with the words "On the tragedy in Arizona."
There is no evidence at this time that the shooting of Giffords was politically motivated, but it's grimly ironic that the candidate appeared on a map of House Democrats "targeted" by Palin in 2010.
As of right now doctors at the University Medical Center say
"Congresswomen is not deceased."
Rep. Gabriella Gifford is in critical condition and a 9-year-old boy and a federal judge died after the shooting at a political meeting at an Arizona grocery store, a hospital spokesman said Saturday.
Check out video of the aftermath below:
Gifford, who was hosting the event, is under anesthesia after undergoing surgery for a single gunshot wound to the head, said Dr. Peter Rhee, Trauma Director at the University Medical Center in Tucson.
"The Congresswoman is not deceased. She is in critical condition,"
Rhee said in a press conference.
"I am very optimistic about recovery."
Meanwhile, authorities have recovered a handgun at the scene of the shooting spree, a senior federal law enforcement source said.
A suspect is in custody in the shootings of at least 12 people said the U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement.
"The suspect is in custody. No further details on the motive or other victims are available at this time....The U.S. Capitol Police are directly involved in this investigation. As more information is developed, it will be provided. In the interim, all Members and staff are advised to take reasonable and prudent precautions regarding their personal security."
A statement from President Obama confirmed that some people had died.
"This morning, in an unspeakable tragedy, a number of Americans were shot in Tuscon, Arizona, at a constituent meeting with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And while we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded," he said.
"We do not yet have all the answers. What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping Representative Giffords, the victims of this tragedy, and their families in our prayers."
[Updated at 3:00 p.m. ET] Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is currently undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the head, a spokeswoman for the University Medical Center in Tucson said.
Nine patients were brought to the hospital, including a child. All of them are in either serious or critcial condition and are undergoing surgery, spokeswoman Darci Slaten said.
A federal judge was also among those shot, a law enforcement official said. It is not clear whether he was among those taken to the hospital.
[Updated at 2:43 p.m. ET] There were conflicting reports Saturday about the condition of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords following a shooting Saturday at a Tucson, Arizona, grocery store. Giffords' press secretary said the congresswoman remains in surgery for her injuries, disputing an earlier report from a law enforcement source saying she had died.
(CNN) -- Six people were killed and 12 others wounded -- including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords -- in a shooting outside a Tucson, Arizona, grocery store where the congresswoman was holding a constituent meeting, police said.
The suspect in the shooting was in custody, according to U.S. Capitol Police, who did not identify the alleged gunman.
Darci Slaten, a spokeswoman for University Medical Center in Tucson, said Giffords, 40, was undergoing surgery Saturday afternoon for a gunshot wound to the head.
Local law enforcement officials have not provided a public accounting of the injuries, but President Obama called the shooting an "unspeakable tragedy," and said "some have passed away," according to a statement from the White House. He said Giffords was "gravely wounded."
The shooting happened shortly after 10 a.m. MST at a Safeway grocery store, Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jason Ogan said.
Giffords, 40, was holding a constituent meeting at the store when the shooting occurred, according to a schedule posted on her website.
An FBI spokesman said the agency was sending agents to the scene, and two senior Obama administration officials said the White House is monitoring the situation. They said they believed that a congressional staffer may have been killed.
Still developing...
