Who is he? Jared Loughner, suspect in Tucson shooting

TUCSON, AZ - The suspect accused of killing six people and wounding Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was decribed as a disturbed young man who was rejected by the military and frequently disrupted his college class.

Federal law enforcement officials are poring over captured versions of a MySpace page that belonged to 22-year-old Jared Loughner, the suspect in the shooting rampage at a Safeway grocery store in Tucson.

Loughner was in custody after authorities said he opened fire outside a grocery store as Giffords, a Democrat, met with voters.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik described the gunman as mentally unstable and said it is believed Loughner acted alone.

Investigators said they carried out a search warrant at Loughner's home and seized an envelope from a safe with messages such as "I planned ahead," "My assassination" and the name "Giffords" next to what appears to be the man's signature.

An official familiar with the Arizona shooting investigation said Sunday that local authorities are looking at a possible connection between Loughner and an online group known for white supremacist, anti-immigrant rhetoric.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, said local authorities were examining the American Renaissance website for possible motives.

The group's leaders said in a posting on their website that Loughner never subscribed to their magazine, registered for any of
the group's conferences or visited their Internet site.

Meantime, the Tucson neighbors of Loughner said he often kept to himself -- not hostile to anyone but certainly not warming up to anyone, either.

"He was a guy in high school who definitely had his opinions on stuff and didn't seem to care what people thought of him," said Grant Wiens, 22, who told The Associated Press he went to high school and had a class at Pima Community College with Loughner.

Lynda Sorenson said she took a math class with Loughner last summer at Pima Community College's Northwest campus and told the Arizona Daily Star he was "obviously very disturbed."

"He disrupted class frequently with nonsensical outbursts," she said.

In October 2007, Loughner was cited in Pima County for possession of drug paraphernalia, which was dismissed after he completed a diversion program, according to online records.

A year later he was charged with an unknown "local charge" in Marana near Tucson. That charge was also dismissed following the completion of a diversion program in March 2009, the Daily Star reported.

A MySpace page attributed to Loughner is no longer accessible online, however, a message with the title, "Goodbye friends" appears to have been posted by Loughner hours before the shooting. It's unclear why the MySpace page has been removed from the site, but it reads, "Dear friends....Please don't be mad at me. The literacy rate is below five percent. I haven't talked to one person who is literate."

In one of several YouTube videos posted weeks ago under the name Jared Lee Loughner, the author also referenced the illiteracy rate among people living in Giffords' congressional district.

"If you're literate in English grammar, then you comprehend English grammar. The majority of people who reside in District-8, are illiterate - hilarious. I don't control your English grammar structure, but you control your English grammar structure."

Loughner's MySpace profile indicated he attended and graduated from school in northwest Tucson and had taken college classes. He did not say if he was employed.

Ryan Miller, 19, was a sophomore at Mountain View when Loughner was a senior. He said Loughner was seemed like a normal kid.

"I was in shock," he said, describing his reaction to the shooting. "I didn't know what possessed someone our age to do something like this."

Another video says, "I know who's listening: Government Officials, and the People. Nearly all the people, who don't know this accurate information of a new currency, aren't aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn't have happen(sic)."

Howard Markson is a psychotherapist who reviewed the suspect’s YouTube channel.

The postings also include comments about sleepwalking and conscience dreaming.

There are also elements of anti-government rhetoric.

Markson said it would be unprofessional for him to make a diagnosis because he didn’t interview the suspect in person.

But based on the postings he said he does exhibit paranoid and psychotic behavior.

He added it could be that he is high on drugs, has mental health issues, or both.

The videos were posted under the Classitup10's Channel, attributed to Jared Lee Loughner. Classitup10's profile indicates the person who runs the channel attended Thornydale Elementary School, Tortolita Middle School, Mountain View High School, Northwest Aztec Middle College, and Pima Community College.