Man linked to Giffords shooting called 'very disturbed'

By Tim Steller, Arizona Daily Star Posted: Saturday, January 8, 2011 3:11 pm

Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily StarJared Loughner is the man identified by the Associated Press as the suspect in the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and slayings of U.S. District Judge John Roll and 5 others this morning in Tucson.  Law enforcement is at house on Soledad Avenue that matches the address of the Jared Loughner who registered as a volunteer at the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books, where this photo was taken.The man linked to the shooting today of Rep. Gabrielle Giffordsand others is 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, the Associated Pressreported.

Police have surrounded a house at 7700 N. Soledad Ave., which isthe address listed by a man with the same name on a variety ofonline accounts and in the volunteer registry for the 2010 TucsonFestival of Books. The home is near West Magee Road and NorthThornydale Road on the northwest side, about five miles from theshooting scene.
A former classmate of Loughner at Pima Community College said hewas “obviously very disturbed.”
“He disrupted class frequently with nonsensical outbursts,” saidLynda Sorenson, who took a math class with Loughner last summer atPima Community College’s Northwest campus.
Sorenson doesn’t recall if he ever made any threats or utteredpolitical statements but he was very disruptive, she said. He wasasked to leave the pre-algebra class several times and eventuallywas barred from class, said Sorenson, a Tucson resident.
MySpace, YouTube and Facebook accounts maintained by Loughnersuggest he has spent most of his life on the northwest side: Hisprofile says he attended Thornydale Elementary, Tortolita MiddleSchool, Mountain View High School and Pima Community College.
The online accounts also contain bizarre discussions of a newcurrency and literacy, as well as threatening and despairingmessages.
“WOW! I’m glad i didn’t kill myself. I’ll see you on NationalT.v.! This is foreshadow .... why doesn’t anyone talk to me?..” heposted on MySpace Dec. 14.
On Dec. 13, he wrote: “I don’t feel good: I’m ready to kill apolice officer! I can say it.”
In a posting on YouTube, Loughner wrote repeatedly about a newcurrency.
“I’m thinking of creating a new currency,” he wrote. “Therefore,I’m thinking of a design for my new coins size, shape, color,material, and image to start a new money system.”
He also wrote repeatedly about literacy. In a written message onYouTube, Loughner said: “The majority of people, who reside inDistrict-8 are illiterate — hilarious. I don’t control your Englishgrammar structure, but you control your English grammarstructure.”
In a message posted on his MySpace account, titled “Goodbyefriends,” Loughner said: “Dear friends...please don’t be mad at me.The literacy rate is below 5%. I haven’t talked to one person whois literate.” It was unclear when it was posted.
In a MySpace profile, Loughner said “My favorite interest wasreading, and I studied grammar. Conscience dreams were a greatstudy in college.”
He lists among his favorite books “Mein Kampf” and “TheCommunist Manifesto”. But he also includes a broad variety of othertitles, including: “Animal Farm,” “Brave New World,” “To Kill aMockingbird,” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.
In another YouTube message, Loughner said: “I know who’slistening: Government Officials, and the People. Nearly all thepeople, who don’t know this accurate information of a new currency,aren’t aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have mycivil rights, then this message wouldn’t have happen.”
“In conclusion, my ambition - is for informing literate dreamersabout a new currency; in a few days, you know I’m consciencedreaming! Thank you!”
In a youtube.com video dated Dec. 15, entitled “Introduction:Jared Loughner” the accused gunman describes himself as a U.S.military recruit who had applied to join the Army. The Army,however, said it rejected Lougher as a recruit in 2008.
Loughner’s youtube video makes a rambling mention of “MEPS inPhoenix” a reference to the Military Entrance Processing Station inthe state capital that all Arizona recruits from every branch ofservice pass through before leaving for basic training.
“Every United States military recruit at MEPS in Phoenix isreceiving one mini bible before the tests,” it said.  “JaredLoughner is a United States military recruit at MEPS in Phoenix.Therefore, Jared Loughner is receiving one mini bible before thetests.
“I didn’t write a belief on my Army application and therecruiter wrote on the application: None.”
First Sgt. Brian Homme, who oversees Army recruiting in Tucson,said Loughner applied to enlist in December 2008 and was sent toPhoenix to take a test and physical. But “he was found to beunqualified so he never joined the Army,” Homme said.
He declined to say why Loughner was rejected, citingconfidentiality laws.
Jared Loughner has had at least two minor run-ins with police,according to on-line court records.
In October 2007, Loughner was cited by the Pima County Sheriff'sDepartment for possession of drug paraphernalia, a charge that wasdismissed in November 2007 when he completed a diversionprogram.
One year later, in October 2008, Loughner was charged with a"local charge" in Marana Municipal Court, that charge was alsodismissed following the completion of a diversion program in March2009.
Court records indicate the Marana case file is due to be purgedin December 2013. It's unclear what the exact charge was.
Grant Wiens, 22, attended Mountain View High School withLoughner, although they were not in the same grade.
Wiens also took a class at Pima Community College with Loughner,where they occasionally talked, he said.
“He was a guy in high school who definitely had his opinions onstuff and didn’t seem to care what people thought of him,” Wienssaid. “He did his own thing.”
Ryan Miller, 19, was a sophomore at Mountain View when Loughnerwas a senior.
He said Loughner was seemed like a normal kid.
“I was in shock,” he said, describing his reaction to theshooting. “I didn’t know what possessed someone our age to dosomething like this.”