This morning, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot pointblank in the head with an automatic weapon. She is currently in surgery, but several other people were shot and/or killed.

Hi Yonuh,

Yes, I came online to post about this in the forum. I am quite shocked and pray for her family and those of the others who were shot.

What is especially scary to me is the news that she had been among those singled out by Sarah Palin's SarahPac...

Washington Post on Arizona Shooting

Reports are conflicting, but I am hoping and praying that she is still alive.

She came through surgery and is in critical condition. One of those killed was a 9 year old girl! I am sickened by this whole thing.

It is a terrible tragedy and I am sure we will be hearing about it for some time. This is the sort of thing the news media will grab on to and use as a means to demand changes. What changes, I am not yet sure.

We now know a Federal Judge was murdered and a 9 year old child, and that the shooter was a veteran. Some reports say they had met before in 2007.

I have been checking in with the Washington Post periodically. They seem to have more news than the Tucson newspaper website. Washington Post update on Shooting in Tucson

My mother and step-father live in Pima County, and ironically this morning Steve and I had been discussing - in theory - what it would be like to move there. (Hey, it's really cold in Northern Illinois in January and the snowbird concept seems to creep into our minds every winter.)

The local news station has more information that isn't on the newspaper website. Her office right now is being evacuated because of a 'suspicious package'. There were lots of people there holding a vigil.

So shocking and terrible; it's hard to even think about so many people dead and wounded -- all at an event that was supposed to be 'ordinary.' As far as I know, the shooter isn't a veteran; he tried to enlist in the Army but was rejected. Like everyone else, I hope the wounded recover and my heart goes out to the famlies of the deceased.

yonuh,
I'm sorry. I didn't see that you had started this subject here.
I just put it in Current Affairs. I was gone away yesterday and am
right now going through the threads to see what's what. If I had seen this thread before I posted, I would not have divided
the subject matter. I find this shooting so heartbreaking.
To think HOW another human could shoot their fellow beings in the head [or anywhere for that matter] makes me sick to my stomach.
Why do people get so cold hearted? Where are their feelings of
sympathy and gentleness and kindness?

The shooter was mentally unbalanced from what I've seen, but still, he definitely targeted Gabby. The list of those who died has been released: one 9 year old girl, a 30 year old man who was one of Gabby's aides and the one who has been working with my partner and me on the problems we've been having with BofA, a federal judge, and 3 people in their 70s. It is truly tragic. Word this morning is that Gabby is still in critical condition and there are 3 others in serious condition.

Please remember the families and victims in your prayers.

Let's pray daily for this beautiful country and all its citizens.
The whole idea of people's lives being crushed by such garbage,
is almost more than the senses can take in. Evil has got to stop.

Peace is a fairly common prayer of mine these days. I'm praying for peace in the hearts of people who seem to carry tremendous hatred within.

And I'm praying for comfort for all those families and friends who were wounded or murdered. The fact that this happened in a food store parking lot has really touched home with me. How many of us food shop on Saturdays? Honestly, one never knows...

God bless the USA.