The suspect in the mass shooting in Arizona posed for photos with a gun, dressed only in a bright red G-string and had the film developed on the eve of the rampage that killed six people and gravely injured US Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, authorities said.
The most detailed timeline of Jared Loughner’s busy 11 hours before the shooting was released on Friday by the Pima County Sheriff’s Office. It begins with Loughner dropping off the 35mm film at a pharmacy at 11:35pm on Jan. 7, the night before the shooting. He checks into a motel about an hour later and at 2:19am on Jan. 8 he picked up his developed photos.
A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so confirmed the details of the photos, including that Loughner posed with a Glock semi-automatic pistol, the same one authorities said was used in the shooting.
PHOTO: AFP
Loughner posted “Goodbye friends” on his MySpace page at 4:12am, then bought bullets and a backpack-style diaper bag at Walmart at 7:27am, according to authorities. Three minutes later, he was pulled over by an Arizona Game and Fish Department officer, but he was let go. He wasn’t acting suspicious and there was no reason to search the vehicle, the agency has said.
Loughner returned home about two hours later and was confronted by his dad when he removed a black bag from the family car. His father chased after Loughner, but he disappeared into the desert.
At 9:41am, a cab driver picked him up from a convenience store and drove him to the supermarket where Giffords was holding her “Congress on Your Corner” event. The cabbie and Loughner went into the supermarket to get change for the fare, authorities said.
At 10:10am, he opened fire, authorities said.
Also on Friday, the US federal judge killed in the rampage was remembered in a funeral.
US District Judge John Roll had stopped by a supermarket meet-and-greet for Giffords when he was killed, along with five others. Giffords, recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, was still in critical condition.
Roll’s funeral came a day after the youngest victim, Christina Taylor Green, was laid to rest and amid tight security. Four big coach buses brought dozens of judges who knew Roll over the years.
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