America mourns victims of Arizona shooting

The US is in mourning following the death of six people in a shooting on Saturday in an Arizona supermarket, leaving congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords fighting for her life

The US is in mourning following the death of six people in a shooting on Saturday in an Arizona supermarket, leaving congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords fighting for her life.

President Obama has led the nation in mourning to remember the victims of the shootings at the hands of 22-year-old Jared Loughner, who murdered six people and shot Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords through the head.

Giffords had been holding an open-invitation meeting with constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson when a man holding a gun approached the crowd and opened fire.

The gunman shot at Giffords’ district director and then at staffers and others standing in line to talk to the congresswoman, recalls Mark Kimble, a communications staffer for Giffords.

‘He was not more than three or four feet from the congresswoman,’ said Kimble. ‘It was just complete chaos: people screaming, crying.’

The Democrat was shot through the left-hand side of her brain, leaving her in a critical condition but it is said she is responding to treatment.

The attack is thought to be the first assassination attempt on a female politician in American history.

Among the dead was nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green, who was born on 9/11 and featured in a book called Fifty Faces of Hope, with other children born on that tragic day.

Some commentators and politicians have blamed violent rhetoric and hatred conveyed in the media for the shooting.

‘People think now if they want to make a statement, they can do that by bringing bodily harm to someone who doesn’t agree with them,’ said Democratic representative Ed Pastor.

Loughner has been charged with the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, the murder of two federal employees, federal judge John Roll and Giffords' aid Gabe Zimmerman as well as the attempted murder of two others.

He may also face state charges for the death of four more people.

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