PHOENIX (AP) — In the 2,700 pages of documents released by Arizona authorities today from the shooting of former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, there are some new details about the gunman, provided by his parents.
The documents reveal that Jared Loughner had grown increasingly erratic and delusional in the months leading up to the rampage. He alienated friends and family, and became paranoid that police were out to get him.
Amy Loughner, the gunman's mother, said she'd sometimes see or hear him having conversations, when he was alone.
His father, Randy Loughner, told police, "I tried to talk to him. But you can't. He wouldn't let you." But he said his 24-year-old son had never been diagnosed with mental illness.
Despite recommendations from officials at a community college where he was expelled that he undergo a mental evaluation, his parents didn't follow up. They did, however, become worried enough about him to have him tested for drugs. Those tests were negative.
Loughner opened fire outside a Tucson supermarket in 2011, killing six people and wounding 12 others, including Giffords. He entered a guilty plea that enabled him to avoid the death penalty, and is now serving his sentence at a federal prison medical facility in Missouri where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
