Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford Murdered By Crazed Gunman

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police said that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) was shot in the head and killed today by a gunman who sprayed bullets at a grocery store in Tucson.

The Pima Sheriff's Department confirmed that Giffords, 40, and six others were murdered, according to NPR.com.

NPR said the gunman ran up to the crowd "and began firing indiscriminately" from point-blank range. 


The suspect is described as someone in his late teens or early 20s. He was tackled by a bystander and then arrested and taken into custody.

In November, Gifford won re-election to her third term in Congress. She was hosting a "Congress On Your Corner" event at Safeway, according to NPR.

The Web is raging right now with references to failed vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin after a speech she gave last September, during which she named Giffords as one of 20 Democrats in her "target practice" crosshairs for supporting Obamacare.



According to NPR, six members of Giffords' staff were killed in today's attack. According to the Associated Press, 12 people were shot.

Giffords and astronaut husband Mark Kelly, who served in Desert Storm, have two children.


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