Crime AZ Sheriff: ‘We’re Not Convinced He Acted Alone’
In a press conference Saturday evening, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik confirmed that law enforcement officials have reason to believe another person may be involved in the shooting spree which killed six Saturday and injured 18 more, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
“We’re not convinced that he acted alone,” Sheriff Dupnik said, referring to the accused perpetrator, 22-year-old Jared Loughner. Until the other suspect has been found and questioned, police are refusing to identify him. Authorities are reportedly hunting for a white man in his 50s.
Loughlin’s shooting massacre was brought to a halt when two “brave individuals” tackled him, the Sheriff announced.
Though Dupnik offered no details concerning the shooter’s motives for the crime, the Sheriff blamed unnamed members of the media for inciting the violence.
“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.
“It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. And that‘s the sad thing of what’s going on in America. Pretty soon, we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”
Additionally, Dupnik noted that federal judge John Roll was in the wrong place at the wrong time. According to the Wall Street Journal, Roll had showed up at Giffords event Saturday morning to thank her:
The federal judge who was shot dead Saturday at a political event in Tucson, Arizona, was there to thank U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords for backing his effort to get more judicial support for the swelling numbers of immigration cases in his district, according to two U.S. federal judges.
In an interview, Michael Hawkins, U.S. Circuit Court Judge of the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, said Judge John Roll had recently asked Ms. Giffords to sign a letter to Alex Kozinsky, the chief judge of the Ninth Circuit, to help convince the court to declare his federal judicial district a judicial emergency due to the high number of immigration and border control cases that were being heard in that district.
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