As of noon today, she is in surgery and it's unclear whether she will survive. The shooting also injured numerous other people at the low-key event, including a young child. UPDATE: As of 2pm, six people have died from the shooting, including a nine-year-old girl. The congresswoman remains in critical condition.
According to reports, Giffords was shaking hands and talking to voters from behind a table at about 10am outside a Safeway at an event called “Congress on Your Corner." The gunman, described as a white male in his mid-20s with short hair and “dressed in a shabby manner”, walked up behind Giffords and opened fire, apparently getting off about 20 rounds.
Staffers tackled the suspect and detained him.
The New York Times reports that Giffords has faced harassment in the past:
At one such event in 2009, a protester was removed by police when his pistol fell on the supermarket floor.Last March, her Tucson office was vandalized a few hours after the House vote overhauling the nation’s health care system, the authorities said. Earlier events in Tucson, Oro Valley, Green Valley, Sierra Vista, and Douglas had attracted between 75 and 150 people, according to a statement announcing the event. This was her first event since her re-election to a third term in November.
