Jared Loughner (PICTURES): Portrait of the Arizona Shooting Suspect

By: Edecio Martinez
Topics: Photos

Jared Loughner (Mug Shot): Arizona Shooting Suspect Appears in Court

Jared Loughner Mug Shot (Pima Sheriff's Dept.)

PHOENIX (CBS/AP) New pictures have surfaced of Jared Loughner, the suspect in the Tucson, Arizona shooting rampage that left six dead.

PICTURES: Jared Loughner

Loughner has been described as a social outcast with wild beliefs stepped in mistrust. A former friend of Loughner's told CBS' The Early Show that Loughner wasn't political, but he was increasingly frustrated with government.

Loughner is accused of killing six people on Saturday and injuring 14 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

At an event roughly three years ago, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords took a question from Jared Loughner, the man accused of trying to assassinate her and killing six other people. According to two of his high school friends the question was essentially this: "What is government if words have no meaning?"

Loughner was angry about her response - she read the question and didn't have much to say.

"He was like ... 'What do you think of these people who are working for the government and they can't describe what they do?"' a friend who asked to remain anonymous told The Associated Press on Sunday. "He did not like government officials, how they spoke. Like they were just trying to cover up some conspiracy."

"If you call me a terrorist then the argument to call me a terrorist is Ad hominem," the 22-year-old wrote Dec. 15 in a wide-ranging screed that was posted in video form and ended with nearly the same question his friends said he posed to Giffords: "What's government if words don't have meaning?"

Loughner lives with his parents about a five-minute drive from the shootings, in a middle-class neighborhood lined with desert landscaping and palm trees. Neighbors said Loughner kept to himself and was often seen walking his dog, almost always wearing a hooded sweat shirt and listening to his iPod.

Loughner is charged with one count of attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the federal government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. More charges are expected.

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE ARIZONA SHOOTING FROM CBS NEWS

15 Photos

Arizona gunman Jared Loughner

View the Full Gallery »

2 Comments +

Add a Comment


by apriles January 11, 2011 12:50 PM EST: There seems to be a typo in the article. The sentence that mentions the suspect was "stepped in mistrust" should be "steeped in mistrust."; Reply to this comment


by cosmotopper January 11, 2011 12:12 PM EST: As a conservative Republican, I'm tired of being called a 'liar', a 'racist', a 'bigot', 'an NRA loving Nazi', 'fearful and ignorant', or any of the other examples of 'hate speech' which spewed forth continuously from the liberal community during the previous election, and all day yesterday from various quarters including top Democratic politicians and progressive/liberal media outlets.

Hypocrite-in-chief was Sheriff Dupnik, who's hateful rant was directed at those of us who oppose the government take-over of the health care industry, and the relentless hiring of marginally competent bureaucrats who are paid twice what their fully-competent counterparts in the private sector receive (400,000 additional since Mr. Obama took office.)

The factual realities fly in the face of these angry Leftists:

Since it turns out Mr. Loughner had to pass an FBI background check in order to purchase his handgun, liberals can't complain that it's too easy for criminals to get them. On the other hand, since Mr. Loughner had already accumulated a record of red-flags known to law-enforcement, the fact that he passed the background check leads to the inescapable conclusion that hiring more government bureaucrats to protect us from people like Loughner is an exercise in futility. Why? Because people with inflated salaries, fat benefit packages, and a union which makes it impossible to fire them, tend not to worry too much about the quality of their day-to-day work-product. Showing up is about all that's required of them. (God forbid they should be required to produce something of value, or be fired, as is customary in the private sector.)

As for Sheriff Dupnik, as more facts emerge, one has to wonder if he spent more time thinking about doing his job as Sheriff, than questioning the right of voters to speak out against a radical socialist President, and his like-minded supporters in Congress, the six people Mr. Loughner killed might be alive today.

The most outrageous irony is that Sheriff Dupnik (as well as numerous other liberals who have politicized this national tragedy), have all but called for the repeal of the First Amendment, at least as it applies to those who oppose them. Maybe they should go back and review the video of a female Democratic member of Congress, who read that Amendment on January 6th, 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ6XMfL3pvs

I can only hope and pray that this courageous woman survives to continue to defend it.; Reply to this comment

Popular Now in Crime

recommended

Follow Crimesider

Most Popular on CBS News

Stories More »

Videos More »

17 Photos | View Gallery »
Fla. teen charged over underage same-sex relationship
10 Photos | View Gallery »
Missouri train derailment
18 Photos | View Gallery »
Vampire Weekend
22 Photos | View Gallery »
Photos of the week
10 Photos | View Gallery »
Best U.S. beaches 2013

Scroll Left

Scroll Right More »

48 Hours 48 Hours for iPad^® A perfect companion to TV's most popular true-crime series.

CBS News on Facebook

Jared Loughner (PICTURES): Portrait of the Arizona Shooting Suspect

15 Photos

Arizona gunman Jared Loughner

View the Full Gallery »

Report offensive content:

E-mail this comment to a friend.

Follow Crimesider

48 Hours iPad App