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Law enforcement officials investigating this morning’s shooting rampage in Tucson just wrapped up a press conference and say they have reason to believe there could be a second suspect in the shooting that left six dead and several — including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords — seriously injured.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik told reporters law enforcement officials have photos of the potential second suspect — a white male in his 50s — in the case. He would not go into further detail, other than to say authorities are looking for the suspect.
Dupnik also confirmed what’s been speculated for much of the day: Federal Judge John Roll is dead.
Roll, appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, was merely stopping by the event when the shooting took place.
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“Unfortunately, [Roll] was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Dupnik says. “He was one of the finest human beings I’ve ever met in my life.”
Dupnik says Roll had gone to mass this morning and, as he would often do when Congresswoman Giffords would hold her “Congress on the Corner” events, he stopped by to say hello.
Nineteen people were shot by suspect Jared Loughner. Six of those people, including Roll and a 9-year-old girl, have died. Several more are in serious or critical condition — including Giffords.
Giffords suffered a gunshot wound to the head. The bullet went “right through the brain,” according to Pete Rhee, director of the University Medical Center. Giffords, he says, is out of surgery and in critical condition.
“I’m as optimistic as I can be in this situation,” Rhee says.
Dupnik characterized Loughner as unstable, but not insane.
As we reported earlier, Loughner’s political rants pushed the boundaries of bizarre.
Dupnik says Loughner’s strange political leanings could have been fueled by the views of extremist political activists who “inflame” emotions.
“[Arizona has] become a Mecca for prejudice and bigotry,” he says. “That may be free speech, but it’s not without consequence.”
