Months later, Giffords now knows who gunman killed
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For nearly seven months, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was intentionally kept in the dark about the six people who died in the Jan. 8 shooting spree near Tucson.
Although Giffords knew that she had been shot and that six people had died, her family, staff and friends wanted to wait until she had recovered enough from her own gunshot wound to the head before revealing the horrible details to her.
Now, she finally knows the full extent of the rampage and that among the dead are her loyal aide Gabe Zimmerman; U.S. District Judge John Roll, a close friend; and 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. Twelve others besides Giffords were wounded in the mass shooting at a Giffords constituent event outside a grocery store.
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Ross Zimmerman told The Republic that it was his understanding that Giffords had asked her astronaut husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, to tell her who died. Zimmerman said he initially had worried that Giffords might inadvertently learn from one of her congressional colleagues that his son had died. Zimmerman was relieved to learn that she had been informed before her Washington, D.C., trip.
“She still has some trouble with language, but there is no question that she can get her point across and her comprehension is 100 percent,” Zimmerman said. “It was Gabrielle - it was nice to talk to her.”
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Zimmerman said Giffords at times struggles for the right words.
“When she gets excited or stressed, it’s harder for her to put words together in sentences,” Zimmerman said. “That’s the thing that she has the most trouble with. She’s having to relearn language, and that’s tough. She’s having to learn how to write with her left hand at this point. And now, she’s having to start the grieving process that the rest of us started back in January.”
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In this May 17, 2011 file photo, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is seen at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. P.K. Weis