Also - Sarah Palin is an asshole and a nut (what did she think was gonna’ happen with crosshairs on her website for members of congress?)… but you know this too…

thedailywhat:

Breaking News of the Day: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was killed critically wounded this morning outside a Safeway in Tucson during a “Congress on Your Corner” event after being shot point blank in the head. Several others were wounded in the attack.

Giffords, who was the youngest woman to be elected to the Arizona Senate, thus becomes the first female politician to be assassinated, and the first US rep to be killed in the line of duty since Leo Ryan (D-CA), who was shot by the Jonestown cult.

Some are pointing out that Giffords was on Sarah Palin’s gun-sighted “hit list” (above / source), but, though the gunman is reportedly in custody, their motives are not known at this time.

[npr.]

UPDATE: Giffords still alive and in surgery according to a hospital spokeswoman. A press briefing is expected shortly.

UPDATE 2: Giffords’s husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly, says his wife is still alive. AP: One of Giffords’s aides has died.

UPDATE 3: AZ state senator Linda Lopez: “We just heard that she is responding to commands. She made it through surgery.” NBC: US District Court Judge John M. Roll among wounded among killed.

UPDATE 4: Sarah Palin via Facebook:

My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona. 

On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.

Meanwhile, controversial crosshairs map scrubbed from SarahPAC sites.

UPDATE 5: Gunman is 22-year-old Arizona resident Jared Laughner. Weapon of choice: Pistol with extended magazine. Reports that he may be a vet of the Afghan arena.

UPDATE 6: Tucson man named “Jared Lee Loughner” posted a foreboding YouTube video listing his “final thoughts” (via):

UPDATE 7: Jared Loughner on now-scrubbed MySpace page: “Goodbye friends. Please don’t be mad.” (embiggen):

Additional screengrabs include photo of gun.

UPDATE 8: Woman who claims to have known the shooter answering questions on Twitter. Also: Photo of “Tucson Festival of Books volunteer” Jared Loughner from Arizona Daily Star. (mirror.)

UPDATE 9: Round up of reactions to shooting of Rep. Giffords.

UPDATE 10: Sarah Palin removes infamous “don’t retreat, reload” tweet; forgets that this is the Internet where nothing goes away.

UPDATE 11: Round-up of previous threats of violence against Rep. Giffords. From The Archives: Giffords talks about being in Palin’s crosshairs. Gabrielle Giffords’ father: “The whole Tea Party were her enemies.”

UPDATE 12: 2006 yearbook photo of shooter Jared Loughner from MSNBC, which says the alleged perp lived with his parents (embiggen):

UPDATE 13: Jared Loughner: What we know so far. (Additional profile here.)

UPDATE 14: Candlelight vigil for attack victims taking place in front of Capitol. Local vigils planned for tonight and tomorrow.

UPDATE 15: Tucson Army recruiter on Loughner: “[H]e was found to be unqualified so he never joined the Army.” CNN: Loughner “pleading the fifth amendment.”

UPDATE 16: Pima County Sheriff’s Department Press Conference Recap: 19 victims, 6 dead (5 at the scene, 1 at hospital); two “brave” individuals tackled the suspect, probably would have shot others had he not been tackled; gunman may not have acted alone, arrived at crime scene with male in his 50s (identity to be revealed later); Rep. Giffords was the target; “Arizona has become the capitol for prejudice and bigotry”; suspect has “troubled past”; no security present at town hall meeting; suspect known to law enforcement officials prior to incident, made threats “to kill.”

UPDATE 17: About 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green of Tucson, who was murdered in today’s attack: “[She] had just been elected to the student council at her school.”

UPDATE 18: NPR: “[W]e already started internal discussions into the sequence of events in deciding to report that [Rep. Gabrielle Giffords] had been killed.” See Also: A round-up of mistaken reports.

UPDATE 19: Photo of 9-year-old shooting victim Christina Taylor Greene, who was born on September 11, 2001. Related: Photo of Christina from Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11.