Arizona citizens quick to respond in Tucson shooting | 01.11.2011 | 08:43:08 | Views: 18768 | ID: January 2011: When Jared Lee Loughner opened fire killing six people during a Congressional meet and greet in Tucson on January 8 , citizens present at the gathering were instrumental in tackling and disarming the gunman thus preventing any more casualties. According to the Arizona Republic, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik identified the three men and one woman as Patricia Maisch, Roger Salzgeber, Bill Badger and Joseph Zamudio. The official timeline of the response said the first 911 call was received at 10:11:56 a.m. "Within one minute of the first deputy's arrival, the suspect was in custody and medical personnel began treating the injured," the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a press release. Ms. Maisch was able to grab the bottom of Loughner's magazine which prevented him from reloading his gun when he ran out of bullets. Then Mr. Salzgeber and Badger tackled the gunman and held him until the deputies arrived, meanwhile, Mr. Zamudio was able to hold Loughner's legs. While the four Arizonans were working to keep Loughner down until the police arrived, an aide to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was working to keep the wounded lawmaker alive. Daniel Hernandez told CNN Giffords was "alert and conscious, but she wasn't able to speak, so the way she was communicating was by grabbing my hand and squeezing." Giffords had been shot in the head at point blank range. The cable news organization reported that local Safeway employees responded to the emergency by bringing out a "clean smock from the meat department to cover Giffords' wound until the paramedics arrived." In a statement released Monday the 10th, Safeway officials said they were providing grief counselors to employees "affected by this tragedy." Also, the local radio station KVOA has provided a GoogleMap with information over-layed to show the events. The New York Times has posted an interactive page of the six people killed and 14 wounded. Among those killed were a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl who was born on September 11, 2001.
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