Gunman Assassinates U.S. Congresswoman

[Gatekeeper]

Everyone:

It's breaking news on the wires right now. This is the latest information as of 1:30 p.m. CST Saturday:

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) – Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona died after being shot in the head while meeting constituents at a grocery store in Tucson, NPR reported on Saturday.
Giffords, a 40-year-old Democrat in her third term in Congress, was shot point blank by an unidentified gunman who fired indiscriminately into the crowd, NPR and other U.S. media said.
About a dozen others at the meeting were shot and the gunman was wrestled to the ground and taken into custody, Fox said, citing an eyewitness.
Giffords was airlifted to a hospital to a hospital after the shooting.
Re-elected in the November 2 election, Giffords focused on immigration reform, military issues, stem cell research and alternative energy while serving in Congress. She was married to U.S. astronaut Mark Kelly.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Paul Simao, editing by Bill Trott)

[Lorizael]

I saw some indication that the shooter is in custody. No confirmation yet that this is, uh, political.

Edit: Oh, your quote actually says the shooter is in custody. Anyway, that means we will have the opportunity to discover a motive.

[Guynemer]

300,000,000 million Americans, some of them are bound to be ****ing nuts. Sad.

[Gatekeeper]

I saw some indication that the shooter is in custody. No confirmation yet that this is, uh, political.

Edit: Oh, your quote actually says the shooter is in custody. Anyway, that means we will have the opportunity to discover a motive.

The best outcome in this horrifying development is that it was a simple act of random violence.

The odds of that are remote, however. It'll probably wind up being linked to U.S.-based rightwing violence or Mexican-based drug cartel violence.

Gatekeeper

[Hauldren Collider]

The most important part of democracy is the fact that it allows peaceful transitions of power. This is a blessing that we can never squander. This gunman is evil and threatens democracy more than any one congressman possibly could.

[DanS]

As far as I've heard, she takes a hard line on immigration, as is the prevailing opinion in Arizona. Seems unlikely therefore that it would be linked to right-wing loonies.

[DaShi]

Before we start blaming the Mexicans.

The doctor described the gunman as a white male in his mid-20s with short hair and “dressed in a shabby manner.”

[Lorizael]

I say we wait for facts.

[DaShi]

I say we start blaming Glenn Beck watching conservatives, even if they aren't responsible.

[Lorizael]

I say we blame the shooter.

[DaShi]

He was most likely a victim of libero-conservative neo-fascist brainwashing from playing too many video games and singing the national anthem naked.

[DaShi]

Oops!

[Lorizael]

Apparently that's been taken down from Palin's site.

[DaShi]

For an update?

[Gatekeeper]

Everyone:

It appears that the congresswoman survived the initial attack, and is now in surgery. She's in critical condition. One of her aides was killed in the attack, and other people were injured as well.

It's a fluid situation, to say the least, and will likely be continually updated throughout the day and evening.

Gatekeeper