Arizona congresswoman shot, at least 6 killed

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head Saturday by a gunman who opened fire outside a grocery store during a meeting with voters, killing a federal judge and five others in a rampage, news reports said.

Giffords was among at least 10 people wounded, and the hospital said her outlook was optimistic as she was responding to commands from doctors despite having a bullet go through her head, AP said.

The death toll included a 9-year-old girl, a federal judge, and a staffer for the Democratic congresswoman.

President Barack Obama declared, ``It is a tragedy for Arizona, and a tragedy for our entire country,'' according to the report.

Police say the shooter was in custody, and was identified by people familiar with the investigation as Jared Loughner, 22, it said.

U.S. District Judge John Roll was one of the dead, AP said. Giffords had worked with him in the past to line up funding to build a new courthouse in Yuma, and Obama hailed him for his nearly 40 years of service as a judge.

Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin was quoted as saying that three Giffords staffers were shot in the attack. One died, and the other two are expected to survive. Gabe Zimmerman, a former social worker who served as Giffords' director of community outreach, died.

미국 애리조나서 총기난사로 女하원의원 피격

미국 애리조나주 식료품점에서 8일(현지시간) 괴한이 총기를 난사, 연방판사를 포함해 5명이 숨지고 가브리엘 기퍼즈(40.민주.애리조나) 연방 하원의원이 머리에 총상을 입는 부상을 당했다고 AP 통신이 보도했다.

기퍼즈의원은 10여명과 같이 부상을 당했으며 병원측은 기퍼즈의원은 총알이 머리를 관통했음에도 의사들의 지시에 응하는 등 반응을 보임에 따라 외관상 낙관적이라고 말했다고 이 보도는 전했다.

사망자중에는 9살의 소녀, 연방판사와 기퍼스의원의 보좌관을 포함하고 있다.

버락 오바마 대통령은 “이 사건은 애리조나주에 그리고 나라 전체의 비극이다”고 선언했다.

경찰은 총기 난사범의 신병을 확보하고 있으며 그의 이름이 제러드 래프너로 확인됐다고 밝혔다고 AP는 전했다.