Jared Loughner Researched Lethal Injection Before Alleged Attack

Photo Courtesy - Pima County Sheriff's Department(TUCSON, Ariz.) -- Before he allegedly went on the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, Jared Loughner considered every aspect of the assault including the likely punishment, sources tell ABC News.

Loughner, 22, used his home computer to browse a website with information about the effects of lethal injection, according to sources familiar with the investigation. He appeared to want to know what death by injection felt like, the source said.

Lethal injection is the method of capital punishment imposed by the federal government.

Loughner also allegedly browsed the Internet for information about solitary confinement and, perhaps more disturbingly, an official said, he had been researching political assassins.

It all paints a dark picture of cold-blooded forethought, sources said, and an obsession with assassinating Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was shot in the head but survived the attack.

Six died and several others, including Giffords, were injured in the Tucson attack on Jan. 8. The congresswoman now is recovering in a Houston brain rehabilitation hospital.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Ariz.: Who is Judge Larry A. Burns and Could the Case Be Moved from Ariz.?

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(TUCSON, Ariz.) -- After the federal judges of the Arizona district court -- all colleagues of Judge John Roll -- recused themselves from hearing U.S. v. Jared Lee Loughner, the chief judge of the 9th Circuit appointed U.S. District Court Judge Larry A. Burns to hear the case.
 
Burns, 56,  currently sits in California and was nominated to the bench by George W. Bush in May 2003. Before then, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in California and a deputy district attorney. He is a California native and is perhaps best known for presiding over the bribery case of Rep. Randy Duke Cunningham.
 
Burns also handled the prosecution and sentencing of Javier Arellano-Felix, head of the notorious Arellano-Felix drug cartel, on murder, drug trafficking and RICO charges; and a challenge to the presence of a Latin cross on Mount Soledad in La Jolla, Calif.
 
No decision has been made on whether the case will be moved from Arizona. Loughner can file a motion on change of venue arguing that such a great prejudice exists against him that he cannot receive a fair trial in Arizona. The court then can transfer the proceeding to another district convenient to the parties, victims and witnesses. The motion can be made at or before arraignment.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Family of Jared Lee Loughner Releases Statement

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(TUCSON) -- The parents of alleged Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner have finally made a statement to the public.

Since Saturday's shooting rampage, Randy and Amy Loughner have sealed themselves inside their suburban Tucson home, blocking access to the front door with a piece of wood to presumably keep people off their property.

On Tuesday, Andrew Harrison Sowards and Jeremy (Eric) Voss, both of the public defender's office, emerged from the Loughner's home to release a statement on behalf of the Loughner family.

The statement, in paper form, reads as follows:

This is a very difficult time for us.  We ask the media to respect our privacy.  There are no words that can possibly express how we feel.  We wish that there were so we could make you feel better.  We don't understand why this happened.  It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday.  We care very deeply [about] the victims and their families.  We are so very sorry for their loss.
Thank you.
The Loughner Family

Voss advised reporters that there will be no public, in-person statements from the Loughner family in the "foreseeable future."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Accused Tucson Shooter Jared Loughner Smirks in Court, Smiles for Mug Shot

Photo Courtesy - Pima County Sheriff's Department(TUCSON, Ariz.) -- Jared Loughner, the man accused of the Tucson massacre that left six dead and injured 14 others, appeared in a packed courtroom Monday shackled and in khaki prison garb, appearing to smirk as he stood before the judge.

Federal officials released Loughner's mug shot, showing him smiling into the camera despite hints of a black eye.

"Yes, I am Jared Lee Loughner," said Loughner, with a freshly shaved head, when Judge Lawrence Anderson asked him to confirm his identity.

Holding up a financial affidavit, Anderson asked Loughner, "I can't read your signature. I know how hard it is to sign with handcuffs on. Did you sign this?"

Loughner, with a fresh bruise on the side of his head, leaned forward to look at the paper and responded, "Yes I signed it. Mrs. Clarke did help me out." He referred to his court-appointed public defender, Judy Clarke.

Every federal judge in the southern district of Arizona recused themselves from the case because one of Loughner's alleged victims was federal judge John Roll.

Clarke said that she objects to "further proceedings in Arizona" on behalf of Loughner, but did not object to her client being remanded without bail. The judge told the courtroom that Loughner was a "danger to the community" before saying "Good to you" and adjourning the session.

About 80 reporters and 25 federal marshalls packed the courtroom, which appeared to be void of any of Loughner's relatives.

Loughner's next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 24.

This is the first time Loughner has said anything since Saturday's shooting. Investigators said that Loughner had refused to speak to them since his arrest.

Loughner so far faces five federal charges: one count of attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the United States and two counts of intent to kill employees of the United States.

If convicted of murdering either of the federal employees, Loughner could be sentenced to death or be given life in prison.

President Obama led a moment of silence at 11 a.m. Monday and he has ordered that the country's flags be lowered to half staff in honor of the tragedy.

Among the injured is Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of alleged gunman Jared Loughner's shooting rampage. Giffords remains in critical condition in a medically induced coma and with part of her skull removed to ease pressure on her brain.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Woman Wrestled Fresh Ammo Clip from Tucson Shooter as He Tried to Reload

Photo Courtesy - ABC News(TUCSON, Ariz.) -- Patricia Maisch looks like a grandmother, but she is being hailed as a hero for helping to stop alleged Tucson shooter Jared Loughner by wrestling away a fresh magazine of bullets as he tried to reload.

Maisch, 61, effectively disarmed the shooter as several men pounced on him and threw him to ground. As they struggled to hold him down, Maisch joined the scrum on the ground, clinging to the gunman's ankles.

Maisch and her fellow heroes -- identified as Bill Badger, Roger Sulzgeber and Joseph Zimudie -- stopped the carnage after 20 people were shot, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Six people died.

"[I] knew right away it was a gun... I heard a continuation of shots," Maisch told a news conference Sunday.
Maisch, who has a crown of snow-white hair, was standing towards the back of the line to greet and snap a photo with Giffords at the "Congress in Your Corner" event at a Safeway grocery store.

Speaking to the press Sunday, Maisch recalled how she stopped Loughner as he tried to reload his Glock 9 mm weapon.

"I could see him coming. [He] shot the lady next to me," Maisch said.

As he was shooting, she said, she was expecting to be hit and she wondered what it would feel like.

There was "lots of blood and confusion," she said.

She considered trying to run away, she said, but thought that would make her more of a target, so she laid down on the ground. But then something unexpected happened.

"Then he was next to me on the ground," she said. "The gentleman knocked him down. I kneeled over him. He was pulling a magazine [to reload] and I grabbed the magazine and secured that. I think the men got the gun, and I was able to get the magazine."

Maisch said Badger and Sulzgeber both sat on the gunman while she held his ankles down. Police said that Zimudie helped by hanging on to Loughner's legs.

Sulzgeber was reportedly standing with his wife, third in line to meet with Giffords, while Zimudie was in the nearby Walgreens and came running out once he heard the shooting.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio