'It shouldn’t be this way': Gabrielle Giffords reacts online to shooting massacre in Maine

Jose R. Gonzalez, Arizona Republic
·2 min read
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Former U.S. representative and mass shooting survivor Gabrielle Giffords took to social media to express her dismay at a shooting massacre that reportedly killed 22 on Wednesday evening in Lewiston, Maine. "At least 22 people were killed and more than 50 people injured because of a senseless act of gun violence. It doesn’t have to be this way and it shouldn’t be this way. Entire communities shouldn’t have to live in fear of an active shooting," Giffords wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Giffords posted about the shooting at 8:07 p.m., following up with posts on X and Facebook."My heart breaks for the Lewiston community, the victims, and the survivors. Earlier this week, I visited Uvalde and met with the families and survivors of that mass shooting. I’m angry that yet another community has to experience this pain. Our leaders must act," Giffords wrote on social media.

A person of interest in the shooting has been identified as Robert Card, who trained as a firearms instructor at a U.S. Army Reserve facility in the state, according to a document reviewed by the Associated Press. Card had made shooting threats at a military base and was committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer, according to the AP.

This handout image released on October 25, 2023 by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via Facebook shows the armed suspect in a shooting as law enforcement in Androscoggin County investigate "two active shooter events" in Lewiston, Maine. At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured in shootings in the city of Lewiston, Maine October 25, 2023 night, US media reported, with police saying that the gunman was still at large. The death toll was reported to be as high as 16 by CNN and the Wall Street Journal, in the shooting spree that took place at a bowling alley and also at least one other location, a local restaurant and bar, according to media.

No arrest was made in the shooting as of 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Giffords served Arizona's 8th district as a Democrat for three terms, having been first elected in 2007. She was shot in the head on Jan. 8, 2011, during a gathering with constituents at a commercial parking lot in Tucson. The shooting resulted in six deaths and another 12 people injured.

Jared Lee Loughner was convicted in the Tucson shooting.

Giffords has since become a champion of gun control. Her husband, Mark Kelly, is the junior U.S. senator from Arizona.

Gabrielle Giffords shooting: A fatal chain of events unfolds

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gabrielle Giffords reacts to shooting massacre in Maine