Tucson Gunman Jared Lee Loughner Indicted on 49 Charges in Tuscon Massacre Shooting & Assassination Attempt

Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused in the Tuscon, Arizona shooting massacre has been indicted on 49 counts including murder and attempted murder that left six people dead and critically wounded Arizona US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Among the indictments is the assassination attempt of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords that carries a potential death sentence.

The full Federal indictment can be read HERE.

A grand jury had indicted Loughner, 22, on three counts of attempted murder, including one alleging that he tried to kill Giffords with a Glock semiautomatic handgun during an event for constituents at a Tucson grocery store in January.

The new indictment, returned by a federal grand jury Thursday, includes those three charges and adds murder charges connected to the deaths of John M. Roll, a federal district judge, and Gabriel M. Zimmerman, a staff member for Giffords. He also faces charges in the deaths of Dorothy J. Morris, Phyllis C. Schneck, Dorwan C. Stoddard, and a child, referred to in the indictment as C-T G.

Forty-sex new indictments were added to the existing three counts of attempted murder against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) and two aides as U.S Attorney Dennis K. Burke stated that Loughner violated the civil right of all attending the Giffords’ event. Burke stated, “These victims were exercising one of the most precious and fundamental rights of American citizens: the right to meet freely, openly and peaceably with their member of Congress.”

But, employing a novel legal argument, prosecutors persuaded a federal grand jury to indict him on 46 new charges, on the theory that the shootings occurred on protected federal ground, as if it happened in Congress. Six people, including a chief federal district judge, were killed, and 13 – including Giffords – were injured.

 Prosecutors have yet to say whether they will seek the death penalty; however, the option is certainly available.