The family of Jared Lee Loughner issued a statement Tuesday regarding Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona.
"There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish that there were so we could make you feel better. We don't understand why this happened," the family said in statement handed to members of the media keeping watch outside the family's Tucson home.
"It may not make any difference but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families we are so very sorry for their loss."
Loughner, 22, is accused of opening fire Saturday morning at an constituents meeting held by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords outside a Tucson Safeway.
Read more about the latest developments in the shootings
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This is an unfortunate situation for all. I still would like to know where he got the gun from?
He bought it legally a few days before the shooting
He actually bought it in November. The extra ammo stock was purchased separately later.
hey..maybe the guy has a studdering problem..
And maybe you have a spelling problem? It's called "stuttering", not "studdering".
i think they were trying to rap in the first sentence..issued a issued a statement. that'll be number one on the R&B charts and top 40 charts by the end of this week.
Haha! Word
Sorry, Kathy, but you're wrong. The shooter was a 22 year old adult. His family isn't responsible for his actions, he is.
Just leave the people alone they didn't do anything. They didn't give their kid a pistol and say hey go attempt to kill some people. Naaaaah, the parents should have never been brought into this story, they are irrelevant to the situation at hand. Get real people. Its just like when we went to Iraq for the trade center bombing that had nothing to do with iraq. Come on now.
In the words of chris crocker "JUST LEAVE EM ALONNNNNE"
It is my belief that Laughner family is just as much a victim as the other victims of the shooting. Not only do they have to deal with the aftermath of this horrible event and the questions raised by the actions of their family member, they have also lost a son. They lost the son they thought they knew and the person who is their son will be lost to them forever in the penal system. They are in my thoughts and prayers as much as the victims and residents of Tucson.
I agree with you. People are always looking for someone else to lay the blame for their actions. I don't know what kind of parents they were. But they have to live with this tragedy and carry in their hearts the actions of their son for the rest of their days. Not only that–they have lost their son as well. Whether he gets life in prison or the death penalty, these parents have lost so many dreams for their son...C'mon folks, leave the parents alone. They will be suffering for the rest of their days.
as much as it was their fault, the system itself created them as well .. think about it. your system is broken when it creates generations of violent, careless people.
Whats the point of him being an adult if his parents are still blamed for everything? GET REAL PEOPLE.
Well said.
I agree with NathanWIlliam.This is a 22 year-old man...not a boy...not a minor. He must be held accountable for his own actions. No blaming the parents for a lousy childhood. No pointing fingers at an immoral society. He made his choices. Now it's time for him to live with the consequences of his actions.
It could be the vaccines he received as a child
Hmmm. this is what the Columbine shooter's parents said too..."We didnt have a clue"...TRY PARENTING.
Thank you!!!
You have no idea what they did or didn't try. Every parenting situation is different, and there are no hard, fast rules to guarantee producing a decent, well-rounded, non-murdering son or daughter. Every parent is ultimately, to some extent, hoping for the best. If you want to play a round of "Contributing Factors," why not persecute the folks who sold him the gun? I'm not keen on that, myself, but consider which offers the best guarantee of this guy not shooting somebody: a gentle, nurturing upbringing or no gun. Awful hard to shoot somebody without a gun, you'll find. Even accidentally.
Jesus... Please comfort this family too.
No one in the right mind ever want their son/daughter to kill any one.
Mr/Mrs Loughner... no body in the right mind would comdemm you.
Peace be with you
agreed!
Amen.
Amen!
agree
Wow.... just wow.
I am usually too compassionate for my own good, trying to be empathetic with people to understand motive or condition. In this instance, I feel as though blatant ignorance, disregard, laziness and callousness is to blame. It has been said that this guy has been exhibiting irrational and unstable behavior for the better part of the last year, if not longer, yet these "parents" stood by and did nothing to prevent this or to get their child help. I do not feel sorry for them in the least. But, if this statement can bring an ounce of closure or solace to those people that lost someone or who has a family member that was injured by this tyrant, then so be it.
I'm not buying it.
how could this statement possibly bring closure. the parents are trying to deny that anything was wrong. "they don't understand how this happened". it happened because they chose to ignore the fact that he had no friends, was expelled from college and told not to come back without clearance from a mental health facility that he was not dangerous and was out buying guns. would you let your child buy a gun after the school wanted him evaluated by a mental health specialist. i wouldn't. but hey another 30 pack and who cares. godspeed to the victims and their families. the parents of this guy are not innocent.
Enid – This man was an adult. His parents did not need to 'allow' him to buy a gun he did it all by himself. We have no idea if they even knew he had a gun. I doubt he walked around the house waving it in the air while they sat and passively watched. It is extremely difficult to force an adult to seek mental health help if they do not want it. We have no proof of what these parents did/din't do to help him or seek help.
Stop with the ignorant mean-spirited blame game!! One of the reasons mental health services are so poorly funded in this country is because people like YOU are utterly clueless about the realities of mental illness.
1 in 4 Americans will suffer from a mental illness at some point in their lives, so you may very well learn the hard way that it's called ILLNESS for a reason. And that getting the services you need can often be basically impossible.
Why? Because people like YOU stigmatize people struggling with mental illness. Because people like YOU nastily proclaim that having a mental illness is, somehow, someone's FAULT. That someone needs to be BLAMED for it. The person struggling with it. Their family. Their friends. Their school. The Democrats. Who knows...who cares...because it's a bogus reaction.
Mental illness isn't a weakness. It's a frickin' ILLNESS!!! Start supporting mental health programs in your local community so that people can get the help they need. Stop blaming the victims of an illness no one asked for and you shouldn't wish on your worst enemy. Some day you may find that YOU or one of your loved ones is one of those victims. Don't wait till that happens and you learn that you were terribly, terribly wrong.
no one can comfort the distraught families of the victims...but at least it will partially lift the burden of guilt of shooter's parents. I feel deeply sorry for all families and hope this man will get what he deserves.
You'd be surprised at just how little a parent can do when it comes to a child over the age of 18. I had my son committed when he was 18 because he was suicidal. I can not have him committed again and he was released after only a few hours because he demanded it and could not be held against his will. Since then, we've struggled back and forth with him to get help. He wants it, but is too afraid to go back to get it. He's never wanted to harm anyone else but himself. We have no idea what these people have or have not done. I won't judge them here.
Please be kind to these parents. They are grieving as much as anyone.
i completely agree.
i'm not seeing that. this is not a small matter. this is about innocent people being killed by someone who was obvioulsy sick. why didn't they commit him? why didn't they take his guns away? i think that as this unfolds it will play out as a family in repeated crisis at the hands of that son. at some point someone needed to be the adult in the household and indicate that serious change was needed. obviously the son ran the show and they were frightened of crossing him or making him angry. what was he going to do, live with them his entire life. at 22 if you are living at home with no friends or life, then you have a problem. now all those innocent people have heartaches they will never get over. this did not need to happen. that is what makes this so profoundly tragic.
You figure this How?? These families lost their loved ones forever. This man is still breathing and will unfortunately wake up tomorrow morning. Being like this is not something that happens overnight. He clearly had signs of this for years...whether he be 22 or 12, he can still hurt someone and he proved that to the world on Saturday. My heart goes out to the families of the VICTIMS not the murderer who took their lives.
chitown: dealing with loved ones with mental illness is hell. this is a glimpse. be glad you don't have to know what its like.
"We don't understand why this happened..."
Please! Don't give us that bull ****! We know why it happened. The family was in DENIAL of this young man's crooked & twisted mind!
And what would you have suggested that they do to force a 22 year old man to act sanely?
This guy needed to be locked up, plain and simple. Thank God he can be brought to justice now!
absolutely.
what do you think they could have done? take him to a therapist? my brother got himself to a therapist, but tried to kill my mother a couple of weeks later. your concept of what you are dealing with, parents power, and whatever other resources you think are out there are naive.