TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - New photos and video released by the FBI show the behavior of a lone gunman just minutes before he carried out the 2011 Tucson shooting that left six people dead and 13 others injured, including former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.
Hundreds of images as well as surveillance video from the day of the deadly massacre were released to the public Wednesday, including photos of Pima County Sheriff’s deputies restraining gunman Jared Lee Loughner on the ground following the shooting.
In the photos, the deputies’ faces are blacked out and Loughner is on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind him. A pair of glasses and a notebook are on the ground next to him.
Giffords was holding a meet-and-greet outside a Safeway supermarket the morning of Jan. 8. According to authorities, Loughner, carrying a pistol, knife and ammunition, took a cab to the event.
Surveillance videos show Loughner - wearing pants, a gray sweatshirt, glasses and a black, knitted hat - walking into the store about six minutes before the meeting was slated to start. In the videos, Loughner goes to the customer service counter before going to buy a bottle of water.
The remaining videos show Loughner spending the next few minutes drinking water while walking up and down the store aisles.
Using a semi-automatic Glock 19, Loughner went on to fire a barrage of bullets at the crowd waiting to meet Giffords before he was tackled by bystanders.
Among those killed were 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, U.S. District Court Judge John Roll, 63, and Giffords’ aide Gabe Zimmerman, 30. Also slain were Dorwan Stoddard and Dorothy Morris, both 76, and Phyllis Schneck, 79.
The shooting left Giffords, who was shot in the head, partially paralyzed. It also spurred her and husband Mark Kelly to form a gun safety advocacy group.
Loughner was sentenced to life in prison in 2012. He is incarcerated at the Rochester Federal Medical Center, a prison in Minnesota that specializes in care for physically ailing or mentally ill inmates.
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