Gabrielle Giffords case: Second man sought in mass Arizona shooting

One man is in custody and authorities are looking for another the day after a mass shooting at a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store left six dead and 13 gravely injured, including the apparent target of the attack, US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

With the local sheriff’s office and the FBI investigating, suspicions that the suspected gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, had an accomplice would complicate the thesis that the shooting was the work of a lone and mentally unbalanced young man lashing out at the government. The existence of a co-conspirator could point to a more calculated plot, and perhaps shed more light on the motive for the attack.

"We are not convinced that [the man in custody] acted alone. There is some reason to believe he came to this location with another individual, and that individual is involved," said Clarence Dupnik, Pima County sheriff, at a press conference Saturday.

Congresswoman Giffords, who underwent surgery Saturday after a bullet struck her in the head during a political “meet and greet” event at a Tucson supermarket, remained in critical condition early Sunday.

Killed in the attack were:

• US district Judge John Roll, who stopped by the event to say hello to Giffords. He had been the chief judge for the District of Arizona since 2006 and a federal judge since 1991, appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush. He had been the target of threats several years ago, after he ruled that a civil rights lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants could proceed against an Arizona rancher, according to a CNN report.

• Gabriel Zimmerman, one of Giffords’s aides. Engaged to be married, Mr. Zimmerman, who like Gifford was Jewish, was the congresswoman’s director of community outreach and a Tucson native.

• Dorwin Stoddard, a retired construction worker. Mr. Stoddard’s wife was also injured, but witnesses told CNN that he tried to shield her from gunshots. She is expected to recover.

• Christina Greene, a 9-year-old who had recently been elected to serve on the student council at her school. She went to the event with a neighbor to meet Giffords.

At time of writing, little was known about two others who died at the scene , Phyllis Scheck and Dorothy Morris, both in their seventies.

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