Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in the head  today at a public event at a Tucson supermarket.  KVOA TV in Tucson is reporting that she has died in a hospital, although there are other reports that she is alive and in surgery. 

She was talking with a couple outside the supermarket when a young man began firing at her from about four feet away.  At least nine other people were injured.

Congresswoman Giffords had just won a hard-fought re-election battle for her third term.  At an event at the same supermarket in 2009, a man was removed when his pistol fell on the floor.  In March 2010, shortly after the House vote on the health care law, her Tucson office was vandalized.

She was 40 years old and is survived by her husband, Commander Mark Kelly, a Naval pilot and astronaut.

UPDATE:  Andrew Sullivan is calling this an assassination and notes the violent rhetoric that Congresswoman Giffords was subjected to during her campaign.  Specifically, she was one of the members of Congress cited in Sarah Palin's infamous gunsight graphics:

 Sullivan noted an article in the Arizona Wildcat that said:

"Palin Reloads; Aims For Giffords



Earlier this year, Palin drew sharp criticism for featuring a map on her web page riddled with crosshairs targeting Democrats in vulnerable congressional districts. Tucson's Gabrielle Giffords is among the 20 Democratic incumbents whom Palin intends to use for target practice."

According to Joe.My.God, this rhetoric was picked up by Giffords' tea party opponent, who posted the following event notice:

Of course, at this point nobody knows the motivation of the killer, but this sort of violent imagery is wildly irresponsible.  My guess is that it will take Fox News a few hours before they start dramatizing threats against Tea Party Republicans to create false equivalents.

UPDATE:  Congresswoman Giffords has survived surgery and her doctor is optimistic.  The same New York Post article reports that a nini-year-old child was killed and at least 9 people were injured.  Gifford's father was asked by reporters if she had any enemies and he said "Yeah, the whole Tea Party."