Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- Mourners will gather
at a memorial Mass Tuesday for victims of the
weekend shooting outside an Arizona
supermarket that killed 6 people and wounded 14
others.
The Mass will be held at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) at St.
Odiilia Church in Tucson, Arizona -- where 9-
year-old shooting victim Christina Green had her
First Communion a year ago.
"Right now it is important as a community to pull
together and to reach out in care and concern to
all who have been affected by this tragedy,"
Bishop Gerald Kicanas wrote Monday in a letter to
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
The alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, 22,
appeared in a Phoenix courtroom Monday to
formally hear the charges against him -- including
two counts of murder, two counts of attempted
murder and one count of attempting to kill a
member of Congress.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, critically injured in the
shooting after a gunman's bullet went through
her brain, was in stable condition Monday,
doctors said. And authorities' investigation was
"winding down," Pima County Sheriff Clarence
Dupnik said.
But details were still emerging from those who
survived the deadly attack, those who lost loved
ones in the shooting and those who knew the
alleged gunman.
Former classmate Don Coorough said Loughner's
demeanor immediately struck him the first time
they met.
"He would use inappropriate emotional reactions.
He would laugh at things that were sad. He just
didn't seem to be aware of what was going on,"
Coorough told CNN.
Former classmate Steven Cates remembered
Loughner frequently grinning and clenching his
fists -- an expression that he said was similar to
the mug shot photograph released by authorities
Monday.
"That same look was the look that made people in
class uncomfortable," he said.
Dr. Steven Rayle, who was at the political meet-
and-greet Saturday when gunfire broke out, said
he caught a glimpse of the gunman's face.
"He seemed very determined," he said.
Court documents released Sunday show that
investigators found a letter from Giffords in a safe
at the house where Loughner lived with his
parents, thanking him for attending a 2007 event,
similar to Saturday's meet-and-greet.
"Also recovered in the safe was an envelope with
handwriting on the envelope stating 'I planned
ahead,' and 'my assassination' and the name
'Giffords,' along with what appears to be
Loughner's signature," the affidavit states.
A law enforcement official said Loughner asked
Giffords a question at the 2007 event and was
unhappy with her response.
"He never let it go," the source said. "It kept
festering."
Hours after Saturday's attack, Dupnik suggested
that "vitriolic rhetoric" in political debates could
have deadly consequences.
"When you look at unbalanced people, how they
respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain
mouths about tearing down the government, the
anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this
country is getting to be outrageous.
Unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort
of the capital," he said. "We have become the
mecca for prejudice and bigotry."
His comments have fueled debate among
politicians, calls for toning down rhetoric and
concern about lawmakers' safety.
Longtime Giffords adviser Mike McNulty has
faulted Giffords' opponents in last year's elections
for stirring up emotions in the campaign to an
unacceptable level.
"She is not just a centrist; she is the center. She is
the fulcrum of American politics. She is what
people fear there is no more of. People are fleeing
the left and the right, and Gabby Giffords stands
staunchly in the center. And here we have
somebody who put a bullet in her brain. The
center is in trouble," he told CNN's John King on
Monday.
But John Green, the father of Christina Green --
the youngest victim of Saturday's attack -- said
the shooting had nothing to do with politics.
"I think it's a random act of violence. I think some
of it is media-driven, because people have begun
to learn they can solve their problems and make
a big splash," he said. "I don't want to politicize
this thing. I want to remember our daughter. I
want the country to remember our daughter."
His wife, Roxanna Green, said she wanted people
to know that her daughter was brave and
intelligent, and hoped others would follow her
example.
"I hope people will look for hope, for change, for
peace. That's what Christina would want. She
wouldn't want us to be sad. She would just be
like, 'Let's do something. Let's make this never
ever happen again, so no one else has to get
hurt,'" she said.
Source: Http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/11/arizona.shooting/
at a memorial Mass Tuesday for victims of the
weekend shooting outside an Arizona
supermarket that killed 6 people and wounded 14
others.
The Mass will be held at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) at St.
Odiilia Church in Tucson, Arizona -- where 9-
year-old shooting victim Christina Green had her
First Communion a year ago.
"Right now it is important as a community to pull
together and to reach out in care and concern to
all who have been affected by this tragedy,"
Bishop Gerald Kicanas wrote Monday in a letter to
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
The alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, 22,
appeared in a Phoenix courtroom Monday to
formally hear the charges against him -- including
two counts of murder, two counts of attempted
murder and one count of attempting to kill a
member of Congress.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, critically injured in the
shooting after a gunman's bullet went through
her brain, was in stable condition Monday,
doctors said. And authorities' investigation was
"winding down," Pima County Sheriff Clarence
Dupnik said.
But details were still emerging from those who
survived the deadly attack, those who lost loved
ones in the shooting and those who knew the
alleged gunman.
Former classmate Don Coorough said Loughner's
demeanor immediately struck him the first time
they met.
"He would use inappropriate emotional reactions.
He would laugh at things that were sad. He just
didn't seem to be aware of what was going on,"
Coorough told CNN.
Former classmate Steven Cates remembered
Loughner frequently grinning and clenching his
fists -- an expression that he said was similar to
the mug shot photograph released by authorities
Monday.
"That same look was the look that made people in
class uncomfortable," he said.
Dr. Steven Rayle, who was at the political meet-
and-greet Saturday when gunfire broke out, said
he caught a glimpse of the gunman's face.
"He seemed very determined," he said.
Court documents released Sunday show that
investigators found a letter from Giffords in a safe
at the house where Loughner lived with his
parents, thanking him for attending a 2007 event,
similar to Saturday's meet-and-greet.
"Also recovered in the safe was an envelope with
handwriting on the envelope stating 'I planned
ahead,' and 'my assassination' and the name
'Giffords,' along with what appears to be
Loughner's signature," the affidavit states.
A law enforcement official said Loughner asked
Giffords a question at the 2007 event and was
unhappy with her response.
"He never let it go," the source said. "It kept
festering."
Hours after Saturday's attack, Dupnik suggested
that "vitriolic rhetoric" in political debates could
have deadly consequences.
"When you look at unbalanced people, how they
respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain
mouths about tearing down the government, the
anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this
country is getting to be outrageous.
Unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort
of the capital," he said. "We have become the
mecca for prejudice and bigotry."
His comments have fueled debate among
politicians, calls for toning down rhetoric and
concern about lawmakers' safety.
Longtime Giffords adviser Mike McNulty has
faulted Giffords' opponents in last year's elections
for stirring up emotions in the campaign to an
unacceptable level.
"She is not just a centrist; she is the center. She is
the fulcrum of American politics. She is what
people fear there is no more of. People are fleeing
the left and the right, and Gabby Giffords stands
staunchly in the center. And here we have
somebody who put a bullet in her brain. The
center is in trouble," he told CNN's John King on
Monday.
But John Green, the father of Christina Green --
the youngest victim of Saturday's attack -- said
the shooting had nothing to do with politics.
"I think it's a random act of violence. I think some
of it is media-driven, because people have begun
to learn they can solve their problems and make
a big splash," he said. "I don't want to politicize
this thing. I want to remember our daughter. I
want the country to remember our daughter."
His wife, Roxanna Green, said she wanted people
to know that her daughter was brave and
intelligent, and hoped others would follow her
example.
"I hope people will look for hope, for change, for
peace. That's what Christina would want. She
wouldn't want us to be sad. She would just be
like, 'Let's do something. Let's make this never
ever happen again, so no one else has to get
hurt,'" she said.
Source: Http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/11/arizona.shooting/
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