page_title: 2011 Tucson shooting
section_title: Gabrielle Giffords
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Tucson shooting / Victims / Gabrielle Giffords
caption_attribution_description: English: Official portrait of United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
context_page_description: On January 8, 2011, U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and eighteen others were shot during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in the Tucson metropolitan area. Six people died, including federal District Court Chief Judge John Roll; Gabe Zimmerman, one of Giffords' staffers; and a nine-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green. Giffords was holding the meeting, called "Congress on Your Corner", in the parking lot of a Safeway store when Jared Lee Loughner drew a pistol and shot her in the head before proceeding to fire on other people. One additional person was injured in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. News reports identified the target of the attack to be Giffords, a Democrat representing Arizona's 8th congressional district. She was shot through the head at point-blank range, and her medical condition was initially described as "critical".
  Loughner, a 22-year-old Tucson man who was fixated on Giffords, was arrested at the scene. Federal prosecutors filed five charges against him, including the attempted assassination of a member of Congress and the assassination of a federal judge.
context_section_description: Gabby Giffords was reported to be the target of the shootings. Some news organizations initially reported she had been killed, but these statements were quickly revised to reflect that she had survived with a gunshot wound to the head. Daniel Hernández Jr., one of Giffords's interns, assisted her after she was wounded and is credited with saving her life.
  Giffords was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition, although she was still conscious. Within 38 minutes, Giffords underwent emergency surgery, and part of her skull was removed to prevent further brain damage caused by swelling. She was placed into a medically induced coma to allow her brain to rest. During a memorial ceremony on January 12, President Obama announced that earlier that day Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time since the attack.
  As Giffords' status improved, she began simple physical therapy and music therapy. On January 21, 2011, less than two weeks after the attack, her condition was deemed sufficiently stable for her to be released to Houston's Memorial Hermann Medical Center. A few days later she was moved to the center's Institute for Rehabilitation and Research to undergo a program of physical therapy and rehabilitation. After examination, her Houston doctors were optimistic, saying she has "great rehabilitation potential".
  On August 1, 2011, she made her first public appearance on the House floor to vote in favor of raising the debt limit ceiling. She was met with a standing ovation and accolades from her fellow members of Congress. Giffords engaged in intensive rehabilitation treatments in Asheville, North Carolina, from October 25 through November 4. In 2011, Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband, published a memoir, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, crediting her with joint authorship. He wrote that Giffords vows to return to Congress, although she continues to struggle with language and has lost 50 percent of her vision in both eyes.
  On January 22, 2012, Giffords announced that she would resign from her congressional seat in order to concentrate on her recovery, but promised to return to public service in the future. She submitted her resignation on January 25 on the floor of the House in an emotional appearance; colleagues and the House leadership offered their tributes to her courage and strength.
caption: Giffords in 2010, official portrait
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