Federal Judge Among 6 Killed in Arizona Shooting

John Roll had himself received death threats in 2009

By Kate Seamons, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 8, 2011 5:48 PM CST
Updated Jan 9, 2011 9:44 AM CST

Copied

Federal Judge Among 6 Killed in Arizona Shooting — In this April 3, 2006 file photo, Arizona Federal District Judge John McCarthy Roll appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill to discuss immigration litigation reduction. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File)

Six have been confirmed dead in today's tragedy in Arizona involving Rep. Gabrielle Giffords: among them, Federal Judge John Roll. No stranger to threats himself, the Arizona Republic reports that the US district judge received death threats in 2009 after ruling that a $32 million civil rights lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants against an Arizona rancher could go forward. The judge logged as many as 200 phone calls in one afternoon at the time, and was assigned a protective detail for about a month. Roll was named to the federal bench by George H. W. Bush in 1991.

The other victims include:

Gabe Zimmerman: The 30-year-old was Giffords' community outreach director, and was engaged.
Christina Taylor Green: The 9-year-old was born on 9/11 and had just been elected to her school's student council, so a neighbor offered to take her along to the event.
Dorwin Stoddard, 76
Dorthy Murray, 76
Phyllis Scheck, 79
An additional 18 people were injured, including two Giffords' staffers who are expected to recover.

(More Gabrielle Giffords stories.)

Report an error