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Health & Fitness

One Year Later: The Tucson Shootings

Jacqueline Presley, Community Contributor

Posted Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 8:46 pm ET|Updated Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 9:49 pm ET

Back in 2011, on this date, Tucson, AZ was the location of an assignation attempt on a Congresswoman, Gabriel Gifford. This bloody shooting spree by accused gunman, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, changed this region and its citizens forever.

The Congresswoman was among the 20 people injured during this shooting, which also killed six people. The details of the memorial service according to history.com stated that, “On January 12, President Barack Obama spoke at a memorial service for victims of the shooting spree in Tucson, where thousands had gathered to honor the victims of the shooting. Among the dead were a 9-year-old girl, a 63-year-old federal judge and a 30-year-old member of Giffords’ staff. Later that month, Giffords was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in Houston, where she would relearn how to walk and talk. Also in late January, Loughner pleaded not guilty to a series of federal charges against him, including the attempted assassination of a congressional member. In March, he pleaded not guilty to an additional 49 counts stemming from the shootings. Loughner eventually was found incompetent to stand trial, after medical experts who examined him determined he is schizophrenic.”