Houston/Washington, Jan 9: A prominent US lawmaker was in critical condition after being shot in the head by a gunman, who also killed six other persons including a federal judge in a shooting rampage in Arizona, sending shock waves across the nation.
 A nine-year-old girl was among those killed and 12 others were injured when the gunman fired a volley of bullets from his semi-automatic handgun as the Congresswoman was meeting with her constituents in Tucson.     The 40-year-old Democratic lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords, a House Representative, was in critical condition following a surgery late last night for what doctors called a "through and through" injury.
 The bullet that was fired at close range entered her head from the front and exited from the rear, and police believes she was the target of the attack.
 The 22-year-old man, who sprayed bullets at the event, has not been named by the police but media reports said he was identified as Jared Lee Loughner.
 The man is being held at the Pima County Jail and police is yet in the dark over what his motives were.
 Five people, including Chief Judge John Roll of the US District Court for Arizona and Gabe Zimmerman, a Giffords staffer, died at the scene. The sixth victim, a 9-year-old girl, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
 One suspect was in custody immediately after the shooting, and investigators were seeking a second man as a "person of interest" who might have been at the scene with the gunman. He is not a suspect in the shooting however, authorities said.
 Police said the suspect has refused to cooperate with authorities, invoking his right to remain silent.
 Eyewitnesses described him as a young white man who looked like a "fringe character", clean-shaven with short hair and was wearing dark clothing.
 Police recovered a 9mm Glock Model 19 handgun believed used in the shooting, and the weapon had a 30-round magazine.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 9 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 9 Jan 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:00:00 IST