(USA Today January 10, 2011) Jared Louhner, the shooting suspect who attempted to assassinate Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, had a reputation for strange behavior. When he first showed up for his first algebra class at the local community college last summer, he was at odds with people around him. "He was one of the last kids to come in, and he sat down and almost immediately started laughing to himself in a way that was just kind of creepy," recalls Alex Kotonias, 20, who sat behind him. "And then, as soon as the teacher started going over the syllabus, he had this outburst out of nowhere, didn't even raise his hand, and started asking the teacher some sort of weird questions about whether he believed in mind control." Adjunct professor Ben McGahee, 28, says, "I remember going home and thinking to myself, 'Is he going to bring a weapon to class?" It was the sort of behavior that led Pima Community College officials to send a pair of campus police officers to the home of Loughner's parents in September with a letter suspending him from school. Citing an Internet posting under Loughner's name asserting that the school had no constitutional authority to exist, he was told he could not return without a letter from a mental health professional saying "his presence at the college does not present a danger to himself or others," according to a statement issued by the college.
Loughner, charged with critically wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday in a shooting spree that killed six and wounded 13 others, is described by acquaintances in terms that have become familiar for suspects in violent rampages: a loner, short-tempered, bitter. He's had minor run-ins with the law. He had started posting anti-government rants on the Internet Until just hours before police say he opened fire on a congresswoman and her constituents, Loughner left few public clues to any violent intent. At 5:00 that morning, in the last post on his MySpace page, he wrote "Goodbye." "Dear friends," he added, "Please don't be mad at me." Loughner lived at the home owned by his parents, a single-story house in a middle-class neighborhood. They have not spoken publicly since his arrest. Neighbors describe him as a loner, often seen walking his dogs in a dark, hooded sweatshirt and headphones. He "kept to himself," says neighbor Anthony Woods, 19, however, he was prone to occasional outbursts. Woods recalls Lougner standing on the corner, cursing loudly because the trash hadn't been picked up on time. Loughner has no criminal convictions despite two arrests.
On September 9, 2007, the day before his 19th birthday, he was arrested in Pima County for possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to attend classes in a diversion program that led to the charge being dismissed. Just over a year later, on October 17, 2008, he was charged with a graffiti misdemeanor in Marana. A police report claimed he drew a stylized CX on a street sign. He claimed it was a symbol for Christian. That charge was also dismissed after Loughner completed a diversion program and paid restitution.
In recent months, he began posting anti-government writings on various websites. Some were about "mind control", others questioned the government's authority. "Read the United States of America's Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws," he wrote in a white text on a black background in a YouTube video. "If the property owners and government officials are no longer in ownership of their land and laws from a revolution then the revolutionary's from the revolution are in control of the land and laws..." He sometimes spoke of his mind-control fears in outbursts at the community college this last summer, classmates say. After just one week of classes, Loughner proved so disruptive and belligerent that his algebra teacher saw him as a threat. McGahee says school officials at one point posted a security officer in the classroom. He described Loughner as not overtly hostile but prone to bizarre, sometimes confrontational outbursts in which his face would become "bright red." McGahee stated he felt like he was a threat. Loughner was suspended halfway into the eight-week course. About two months later, police say Loughner went to Sportsman's Warehouse in Tucson and purchased the Glock 9mm handgun that he's suspected of using in Saturday's shooting.
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