‘Arizona gunman’ appears in court

Jared Loughner faces several charges over the attack on Saturday

A man charged with trying to assassinate a US congresswoman in a shooting that left six people dead and more than a dozen wounded has appeared in federal court in Tucson, Arizona.

Jared Loughner, 22, faces several charges over the attack on Saturday.

Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head, remains in a critical condition but doctors say the swelling in her brain has stabilised.

Among the dead were a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge.

Mr Loughner walked into the courtroom wearing handcuffs and in a prison uniform, with a cut on the right side of his head.

During the 13-minute hearing, Mr Loughner said very little, only periodically leaning forward to speak into a microphone.

Mr Loughner, who did not enter a plea, confirmed his identity and had an attorney appointed to defend him.

When asked, he said he understood that he could get life in prison or the death penalty for allegedly killing federal Judge John Roll on Saturday.

He has been assigned a lawyer who defended Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Timothy McVeigh. She waived a detention hearing for her client.

The courtroom in Arizona was under protection by about a dozen US marshals on Monday

The courtroom was under heavy protection on Monday by about a dozen US marshals.

Prosecutors have charged Mr Loughner with five counts, including killing federal employees and attempting to assassinate Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

It is unclear whether the US justice department will seek the death penalty against Mr Loughner.

Ms Giffords had been holding an open-invitation meeting with constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson on Saturday when a man holding a gun approached and opened fire.

Ms Giffords, 40, was shot from close range by the gunman, who then began shooting into the crowd.

Doctors at the hospital where Mr Giffords is being treated have said they are optimistic about her recovery.

Christina Taylor Green, the young girl killed in the shooting, was born on 9/11 and featured in a book Faces of Hope, Babies Born on 9/11 about some of the children born on that day.

Flags across the US were flown at half mast on Monday, and President Barack Obama said the nation was “grieving and shocked”.

Mr Obama said it is important to focus on the courage shown at the shootings

Mr Obama praised the “extraordinary courage” of the people at the scene who wrestled the gunman to the ground, saying they had shown “the best of America”.

Mr Obama, who led the US in a silent tribute from the South Lawn of the White House on Monday morning, said a priority for the nation was “making sure we are joining together, pulling together as a country”.

Lawmakers also paid tribute to Ms Giffords and other victims of the mass shooting on the steps of the Capitol building.

The BBC’s Jonny Dymond, in Tucson, says small groups gathered in public spaces, in offices and in shops and stopped in silence for a minute.

This city did not come to a halt, our correspondent says, as many had done their mourning over the weekend in public vigils and private houses.

Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg, a gun control advocate from the US state of New Jersey, announced plans on Monday to introduce legislation that would ban high-capacity ammunition clips, like the one used in Saturday’s mass killing.

“The only reason to have 33 bullets loaded in a handgun is to kill a lot of people very quickly. These high-capacity clips simply should not be on the market,” Mr Lautenberg said.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.