There is not a lot of information about the man arrested for shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), killing S.S. District Judge John Roll, a 9-year-old child and injuring at least 18 people. What we know now. Feel free to add links to new information in the comments.

CBS:

Police said the suspect, Jared Loughner, 22, has had one minor run-in with the law. Little information is known immediately about Laughner – such as his background or a possible motive in the attack.

Police said a pistol with an extended magazine was used.

A law enforcement source told CBS News that a man apparently stood up in the crowd during the town hall meeting, shouted something and then opened fire. Someone – possibly police or security – then shot at the gunman.

The gunman has been apprehended but it is unknown if he was wounded.

Around the Twittersphere, there is talk that this is Loughner’s YouTube page, but it has not been confirmed. Let’s just say this person is what we feared – a winger with serious issues.

UPDATE: CNN has compiled a sampling of the Arizona shooting suspect’s social-media postings:

MySpace

December 26, 2010:

I’m not going to change the mistakes, you don’t know – funny! (I think the CIA watches my-space)

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December 30, 2010:

Literate Letter: Dear Reader, Brainwash.

…..Dear Reader,….. I’m searching. Today! With every concern, my shot is now ready for aim. The hunt, a mighty thought of mine

—–

December 30, 2010:

I now understand a certain word — Cult!

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December 30, 2010:

I know how to graduate without a cult ceremony: Please! Don’t think of murdering.

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January 8, 2010 (posted at about 5 a.m. MT):

Good-bye friends.

Dear friends,…..Please don’t be mad at me. The literacy rate is below 5%. I haven’t talked to one person who is literate.

Statement from John McCain:

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) made the following statement regarding the horrifying attack at an event for U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) in Tucson, Arizona:

“I am horrified by the violent attack on Representative Gabrielle Giffords and many other innocent people by a wicked person who has no sense of justice or compassion. I pray for Gabby and the other victims, and for the repose of the souls of the dead and comfort for their families. I beg our loving Creator to spare the lives of those who are still alive, heal them in body and spirit, and return them to their loved ones.

“Whoever did this; whatever their reason, they are a disgrace to Arizona, this country and the human race, and they deserve and will receive the contempt of all decent people and the strongest punishment of the law.”

Love this development, feeling guilty, much, you wingers? From Marc Ambinder:

Wingnuts already at work planting fake FB pages portraying shooter as leftist. https://on.fb.me/fUiaCU

And how about this:

Tea party activists fear backlash in wake of shooting of Rep. Giffords

Tea party activists condemned today’s shooting and said they are concerned that the act will be blamed on their movement.

“A lot of people have bets on how long it will take before they blame this on the tea party and that’s absolutely ridiculous,” Debbie Dooley, a national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, told Congress.org.

…”This heinous act will change the interaction between elected officials and their constituents,” the group’s Facebook wall said. “People also pray for the safety of congressmen, senators, President Obama and other elected officials in the aftermath of this shooting.”

Just an observation — one has to ask why all the site scrubbing (Palin, Free Republic) if the right wing thinks the shooter isn’t one of “their own?” Palin and Co. need to own the rhetoric and leave it up for all to see.

Related:

* AZ U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords clears surgery after attempted assassination in Tucson
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