Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona Congresswoman who was shot last January at a political rally, says she’s satisfied with the shooter’s guilty plea, which would save the city–and the surviving victims of his rampage–a long, painful trial. However, the gunman, Jared Loughner, told his psychiatrist that her survival means he’s a failure once more.
The shooting–which left six people dead and 12 injured–rocked the nation; but Giffords, in her remarkable fight for life, survived being shot in the head and eventually endured several painful surgeries, as well as rehabilitation in order to walk and speak again. Her story captured millions and inspired a country which was in shock from such a horrifying tragedy. Loughner, being in custody, was unaware that she’d survived. When he made repeated comments about her “death” to prison officials, his psychiatrist, Christina Pietz, explained that Giffords was alive, which seemed to throw him into a depression.
“I’m not an assassin,” he told Pietz. “Jared Loughner failed again. He’s a failure. So all of this would be for nothing.”
However, later he began asserting that Giffords really had died, and Pietz believes it’s because he was trying to comfort himself.
“In my opinion, Mr. Loughner maintains this belief to vindicate himself and not because he is delusional,” she wrote in a report.
Indeed, Loughner was declared mentally competent and was allowed to enter a guilty plea earlier this week, which won’t see him receive the death penalty. Instead, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.