Jared Loughner ID'd as Giffords Shooting Suspect
A 22-year-old man was in custody following the shooting rampage outside a Tucson grocery store that killed six people and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords clinging to life, authorities said.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence would not identify the suspect, but people familiar with the investigation said he was Jared Loughner.
Officials say he has claimed sole responsibility for the attack, but said authorities were "not convinced he acted alone," Dupnik said.
Special Section: Tragedy in Tucson
Dupnik said authorities had "some reason to believe he came to the event with another individual," and said investigators had pictures of the other "person of interest." Dupnik would say the person appeared to be around 50 years old.
The suspect used a Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol equipped with an extended magazine that can hold approximately 30 rounds or more - two to three times a normal magazine capacity, a person with knowledge of the investigation told CBS News. The high-capacity magazine was illegal as part of the federal assault weapons ban put in place during the Clinton administration, but the ban was allowed to expire during the Bush administration.
A source with knowledge of the investigation said the weapon involved in the attack was purchases five weeks ago at Sportman's Warehouse in Tuscon. It's unclear whether Loughner bought the gun personally.
There is no word on the number of rounds fired.
"The gunman began just spraying everybody at point blank range. It wasn't like he was picking people out, he just began shooting at everybody who was close to him and kind of a constricted area," Dr. Steven Rayle, who witnessed the shooting and offered medical attention to the victims, told CBS News.
Rayle said the suspect "had a determined look on his face. And he just began shooting, wearing dark clothes, a little bit … shabbily dressed, and he really, I think, … thought he would be getting away."
Two people at the scene tackled the suspect, officials said. Dupnik said "he probably would have shot other people had he not been tackled."
Six people, including a 9-year-old girl and U.S. District Judge John Roll, were killed in the attack. Hospital officials said the outlook for Giffords was "optimistic" and that she was responding to commands from doctors despite having a bullet go through her head.
Loughner's exact motivation was not immediately clear. Federal law enforcement officials were poring over captured versions of a MySpace page that belonged to Jared Loughner and over Youtube video published to the Internet weeks ago under an account "Classitup10" and linked to him. The MySpace page, which was removed within minutes of the gunman being identified by U.S. officials, included a mysterious "Goodbye friends" message published hours before the shooting and exhorted his friends to "Please don't be mad at me."
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Gallery: Congresswoman Shot in Arizona
In one of several Youtube videos (see videos below), which featured text against a dark background, Loughner described inventing a new U.S. currency and complained about the illiteracy rate among people living in Giffords' congressional district in Arizona. Two spellings of his last name were given in the aftermath of the shooting - Loughner and Laughner.
(This screen grab shows the MySpace page attributed to Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage that left at least five people dead and wounded several more, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Jan. 8, 2011.)
"I know who's listening: Government Officials, and the People," Loughner wrote. "Nearly all the people, who don't know this accurate information of a new currency, aren't aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn't have happen (sic)."
In one of the videos, which features text listed as his "final thoughts," Loughner urges people to "read the United States of America's Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws."
"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.
It is still unclear if the Loughner listed on the YouTube account is indeed the shooting suspect.
© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Pima County Sheriff Clarence would not identify the suspect, but people familiar with the investigation said he was Jared Loughner.
Officials say he has claimed sole responsibility for the attack, but said authorities were "not convinced he acted alone," Dupnik said.
Special Section: Tragedy in Tucson
Dupnik said authorities had "some reason to believe he came to the event with another individual," and said investigators had pictures of the other "person of interest." Dupnik would say the person appeared to be around 50 years old.
The suspect used a Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol equipped with an extended magazine that can hold approximately 30 rounds or more - two to three times a normal magazine capacity, a person with knowledge of the investigation told CBS News. The high-capacity magazine was illegal as part of the federal assault weapons ban put in place during the Clinton administration, but the ban was allowed to expire during the Bush administration.
A source with knowledge of the investigation said the weapon involved in the attack was purchases five weeks ago at Sportman's Warehouse in Tuscon. It's unclear whether Loughner bought the gun personally.
There is no word on the number of rounds fired.
"The gunman began just spraying everybody at point blank range. It wasn't like he was picking people out, he just began shooting at everybody who was close to him and kind of a constricted area," Dr. Steven Rayle, who witnessed the shooting and offered medical attention to the victims, told CBS News.
Rayle said the suspect "had a determined look on his face. And he just began shooting, wearing dark clothes, a little bit … shabbily dressed, and he really, I think, … thought he would be getting away."
Two people at the scene tackled the suspect, officials said. Dupnik said "he probably would have shot other people had he not been tackled."
Six people, including a 9-year-old girl and U.S. District Judge John Roll, were killed in the attack. Hospital officials said the outlook for Giffords was "optimistic" and that she was responding to commands from doctors despite having a bullet go through her head.
Loughner's exact motivation was not immediately clear. Federal law enforcement officials were poring over captured versions of a MySpace page that belonged to Jared Loughner and over Youtube video published to the Internet weeks ago under an account "Classitup10" and linked to him. The MySpace page, which was removed within minutes of the gunman being identified by U.S. officials, included a mysterious "Goodbye friends" message published hours before the shooting and exhorted his friends to "Please don't be mad at me."
Rep. Giffords Critical After "Devastating Wound"
Obama: Giffords Shooting "A Tragedy for Our Entire Country"
Giffords' Husband, NASA Astronaut, Rushes to Ariz.
Gallery: Congresswoman Shot in Arizona
In one of several Youtube videos (see videos below), which featured text against a dark background, Loughner described inventing a new U.S. currency and complained about the illiteracy rate among people living in Giffords' congressional district in Arizona. Two spellings of his last name were given in the aftermath of the shooting - Loughner and Laughner.
(CBS)
"I know who's listening: Government Officials, and the People," Loughner wrote. "Nearly all the people, who don't know this accurate information of a new currency, aren't aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn't have happen (sic)."
In one of the videos, which features text listed as his "final thoughts," Loughner urges people to "read the United States of America's Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws."
"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.
It is still unclear if the Loughner listed on the YouTube account is indeed the shooting suspect.
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This boy is 22 years old. Who has or has had the most infuence over him in his life? I find it very interesting that Sarah Palin's rhetoric was pointed out and there was no mention of the rhetoric used by rap artist's lyrics and other media and entertainment outlets that begin to influence teens and young adults at a very early age. The entertainment industry has more influence over teens and young adults than politicians do. Our society has allowed immoral television shows to be broadcasted. They allow immoral music production artists to distribute and sell songs that encourage this type of behavior. And we call it entertainment. Then, when somebody really does take it seriously, we call them crazy. We call them crazy for doing the very things that we entertain ourselves with. If you plant a corn seed, then corn is what will grow.
Furthermore, parents actually have more influence over kids than anyone else. But who has parents anymore? The concept of "family" practically doesn't exist. I think that our government and society should focus on rebuilding our value system and making this our number one priority before worrying about other countries and helping outsiders more that natural born citizens of the United States. Everything needs to stop being about money and we need to start caring about people.
Andrah P'Lonas
http://ryanoradio.com
p.s. what is sarah palin REALLY all about - moose hunting from helicopters AND naming her son "trig" - is that short for "trigonometry" ??? - NOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What does Sarah Palin have to do with a deranged twit shooting up a crowd of people? Or did you just mix up your fap window with this one?
Just a fair unadulterated look at the post on this article reflects how in this case, the left is calling for a complete ban on the rights afforded to Americans under the second amendment, which is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. While the right is saying, "Oh no, from what this guy has said and wrote he is a liberal." Lets face it folks, what is coming out of the mouths of speakers from both sides is extreme in nature, and if if we are not carefully the extremism from both sides will destroy what we have left in the middle.
The truth of the matter is that there is nothing that we have been told that would cause us to believe that what happened in Tuscon was a "politically motivated act," brought about by beliefs associated to either side. This person, it appears, from what we know, was someone who had issues, and was at the very least a few bricks shy of a full load.
Yet, from the very beginning, the MSM (mainstream media) has attempted to present this incident as a politically motivated act, while at the same time demonizing the tea-party, and various other groups, when there has been no evidence showing that the shooter had any ties to any political group.
What many Americans fail to realize is that the extreme politics of both the left and the right will attempt to use this incident to further take away the rights of all Americans. This is akin to what Geronimo said, when he ask, "Why is it that because there have been a few Apaches, who have done bad things, that all Apaches should suffer?"
There are without a doubt bad people, and bad people do bad things. With what little we have to go on today, it is hard to say whether this bad person was either a leftist or a rightist. One thing that seems to be evident is that he is a product of the extremism that is now ravaging the American political system.
I will point out that what we see here, seems to play along with a theme that we have seen time and again, and that is the common thread, of "mind control."
Loughner was obsessed with mind control, mirroring the circumstances of many other mass shooters in history. Loughner's You Tube channel contains several rambling text-based videos which discuss his fascination with mind control.
In one of his online rants, Loughner said that he was a "United States Military recruit at MEPS in Phoenix". Reports suggest that he also may have been deployed to Afghanistan at one point.
The fact that Loughner was part of the US military and yet is being characterized as an anti-government conspiracist by the MSM is a complete contradiction, and should raise red flags to anyone that can look at this logically. Loughner's multitude of viewpoints seem to transcend political classification, yet the MSM and many posters here have tried to present this incident as a politically motivated incident.
Watching his You Tube videos, seems to show that he is clearly a schizophrenic who is obsessed with mind control and other bizarre left-field issues of minutia.
Loughner's vulnerable and psychotic profile, combined with his interest in mind control, mirrors other famous assassins such as Mark David Chapman, John Hinckley, as well as Columbine killers Harris & Klebold. None of the aforementioned can be shown to have had any political ties that would have lead them to carry out their deeds of destruction, and from what we now know, neither did Loughner.
Look: His favorite books list included Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto. His friends described his politics as "left wing."
Personally, I consider that even in this case to be irrelevant -- the kid was plainly schizophrenic or psychotic as is evidenced by his writings and vids.
There's NOTHING to indicate any sort of tea party/palin/fox/whatever link to him whatsoever. NOTHING.
Your instinctive blaming of these folks says far more about you than it does about them or this sick little puke.
Stop dancing in the blood of the victims.
Pilots of this country have to have an extensive physical and mental evaluation every two to three years to retain their flying privileges. A car or gun owner doesn't and we see where most of the people are dying senselessly. More education with expense met by the owner is appropriate, along with a bi-annual physical and mental evaluation, for gun and motor vehicle owners. You will see a considerable drop in fatalities if such practices are mandated and actively enforced. A nation of under-educated and unhealthy slobs simply produce higher death tolls. It should be a crime to continue allowing access to weapons and vehicles to under-educated and an unhealthy population.
My proposal isn't unconstitutional or crazy to anyone thinking about preserving their liberties by participating in a program designed to assure safety while piloting any airplane, driving any car, or using any weapon. In Cuba or communist Russia, few could ever do those things. The pursuit of safety is not any kind of liberal expression, but instead a sensible expression of intolerance to senseless tragedies which are preventable. History has documented and proven that what happens to a person after taking possession of a car, weapon, or aircraft can change and favor operation with neglect, abuse, or with unhealthy conditions. I would rather defend our liberties with a program modeled after the aviation industry's successful and continuous safety requirements, which require users to furnish evidence of their healthiness and competent operation of aircraft. It is fact that far fewer people have been attacked by airplanes, than with cars or weapons.