Obama to attend Arizona memorial

President Barack Obama is due to speak at a memorial service in Tucson later on Wednesday

President Barack Obama has arrived in Arizona to pay tribute to six people killed in a shooting and to honour US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was injured in the attack.

The president is due to speak at a memorial service for victims of the shooting in Tucson later on Wednesday.

Suspected gunman Jared Loughner has been charged with several offences and could face the death penalty if guilty.

Mr Obama has visited Ms Giffords, who remains in a critical condition.

Thousands have gathered through the day for a night service at the University of Arizona’s basketball arena in Tucson ahead of Mr Obama’s speech.

The president is expected to devote the majority of his speech to remembering the victims of the attack. As many as 15,000 people are likely to attend.

Mr Obama, accompanied by First Lady Michelle as well as Democratic and Republic lawmakers, was greeted at the airport by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

The president’s first stop after arrival was at the hospital where Ms Giffords and others are being treated.

The president also planned to meet privately with the families affected by the shooting, which claimed the lives of six people and left 13 wounded.

Ms Giffords, a Democrat, remains in critical condition after being shot through the head in the attack outside a grocery store where she was holding a constituent event.

Among those who died in the shooting were a nine-year-old girl, a prominent judge and one of Ms Gifford’s aides, who was engaged to be married.

Mr Loughner, 22, has been jailed pending trial. The case has been assigned to California federal judge Larry Burns.

All judges in Arizona were recused from Mr Loughner’s trial because federal Judge John Roll of Arizona was among those killed in the shooting.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday took up a resolution honouring Ms Giffords and other victims of the attack, with House Speaker John Boehner fighting back tears as he spoke about his ailing colleague.

The resolution declares the House “stands firm in its belief in a democracy in which all can participate and in which intimidation and threats of violence cannot silence the voices of any American”.

Meanwhile, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has rebuffed suggestions that political rhetoric contributed the fatal shootings in Arizona.

Some commentators have suggested increasingly vitriolic political rhetoric in the US may have contributed in some way to the attack, with some specifically criticising Ms Palin for using an online graphic containing crosshair symbols that marked targeted Democratic districts in the recent US mid term elections.

New details also began to emerge on Wednesday about the hours before the shooting took place.

Police have said Mr Loughner was stopped by police for running a red light while driving hours before he allegedly opened fire on the crowd outside the supermarket.

The Arizona wildlife officer who stopped the suspected shooter on the morning of the attack took his name and vehicle registration, and released him with a verbal warning after learning he was not wanted on any warrants.

Investigators have also said they found a handwritten note among Mr Loughner’s effects where he lived in Tucson bearing the words “Die, bitch”, which they believe was a reference to Ms Giffords.

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