Loughner indicted on attempted assassination charges
ASSOCIATED PRESS
This undated photo released by the Pima County Sheriff's Office shows shooting suspect Jared Loughner.
PHOENIX
A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the suspect in the deadly Arizona shootings that wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
The indictment against Jared Loughner, 22, accuses him of attempting to assassinate Giffords and trying to kill two of her aides.
It does not include two murder charges listed in an earlier criminal complaint for the deaths of Giffords’ aide, Gabe Zimmerman, 30, and U.S. District Judge John Roll, 63.
Those are potential death-penalty charges. A statement from the U.S. attorney for Arizona, Dennis Burke, said those require a more painstaking process under Justice Department rules.
Burke said the initial indictment issued by a grand jury in Tucson was just the beginning of federal legal action against the 22-year-old Tucson resident.