Iowa delegation responds to Arizona tragedy

CEDAR RAPIDS - According to police and government officials, a federal judge was killed and a congresswoman gravely wounded Saturday in a shooting outside of a Tucson, Arizona, grocery store.

In all, six people died, including Chief Judge John Roll of the U.S. District Court for Arizona and 12 were wounded in the shooting, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona.

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), like Giffords, came into Congress in the Class of 2006 as a Democrat who won in a district held by a Republican. He spoke with KCRG-TV9's Chris Earl this afternoon by phone:

“I had met her before we were even elected, and campaigned with her this summer in Tucson,” said Braley, who told us he caught up with Giffords just this past week during the swearing-in ceremonies for the new Congress.

Braley described Saturday's events as a “numb experience - watching these terrible events unfold all day long.”

After some news reports incorrectly said Giffords had died from her wounds, Braley said he finally felt some hope about Giffords' condition after a hospital neurosurgeon described her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head as “optimistic.”

“America is a democracy,” Braley told us. “Americans want access to elected officials. The sad part is this will cause those who want to run for political office to have second thoughts and, for us, to re-examine how we provide security to ourselves, our staff and our families.”

“It should start a new, national debate on how we can have strong, differing opinions on important public policy issues and still show the respect that Iowans, historically, have shown during political disagreements," said Braley.

Tom Latham, a Republican and longtime representative from Iowa's 4th District provided this statement regarding the shooting:

“Kathy (Latham) and I are keeping Congresswoman Giffords, her staff, her family and the other victims of today's senseless tragedy in our hearts and prayers. I know Congresswoman Giffords to be a dedicated servant to her constituents and the cause of democracy in the United States."

"No rational person could ever think that a political disagreement in this great nation should be solved with bullets, and I'm horrified by today's events," said Latham.

A federal law enforcement source identified the suspect as Jared Lee Loughner. U.S. Capitol Police said the suspect was in custody and that they recovered a 9mm Glock handgun.

President Obama said he had directed FBI Director Robert Muller to travel to Arizona to support the investigation.