PHOENIX – A US congresswoman and six other people were shot to death in Tucson, Arizona by a gunman who opened fire at a public event, National Public Radio reported, citing the local sheriff’s office.
NPR said at least nine other people were wounded in the attack at a grocery store where the Democratic lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords was hosting a “Congress on Your Corner” event with constituents. The wounded included three of her staffers.
It said the suspect ran off and was tackled by a bystander before being taken into custody, and that witnesses described him as being in his late teens or early 20s. Andrea Gooden, a witness who was in an office across the street, told Fox News she heard a burst of gunshots and “immediately after that there were people racing across the parking lot.”
Another witness told CNN he heard 15-20 shots and saw people running from the scene and screaming before police and firetrucks arrived around two minutes later. Hospital sources, however, said that Gooden was alive and being treated.
