Tucson Shooting Suspect Made Threats In Past
Jared Loughner, the suspect accused of killing six people and wounding 13 others Saturday, including Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, had made threats in the past and even interacted with Giffords in 2007.
CBS News Justice and Homeland Security correspondent Bob Orr said on "Face the Nation" Sunday, "We do know from our sources and from our national security analyst Juan Zarate that Loughner had an interaction once before with Congresswoman Giffords back in 2007, where he apparently posed a question to her, kind of a benign question."
"She answered the question; he didn't find it acceptable, he didn't like the answer," Orr said.
"In the time since then, investigators believe perhaps he was tracking her and targeting her in a very loose way," Orr told CBS chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer.
Officials said the suspect, currently in custody, used a Glock 9mm pistol equipped with an extended magazine to carry out the attack, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr. There is no word on the number of rounds fired. Authorities are currently tracing the weapon to find out who owns it and where it was purchased.
"The gunman began just spraying everybody at point-blank range. It wasn't like he was picking people out, he just began shooting at everybody who was close to him and kind of a constricted area," Dr. Steven Rayle, who witnessed the shooting and offered medical attention to the victims, told CBS News.
Rayles said the suspect "had a determined look on his face. And he just began shooting, wearing dark clothes, a little bit … shabbily dressed, and he really, I think, … thought he would be getting away."
A person at the scene, possibly one of Giffords' aides, tackled the suspect, Rayles said.
A federal law enforcement official tells CBS News that police and federal agents are still investigating the possibility that others may have been involved in the attack, but so far, the probe centers on a single shooter. Multiple search warrants are being served in the investigation, said Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman Rick Kastigar.
Associated Press Contributed to this report.
