PHOENIX — A medical examiner released autopsy reports Monday for the six people slain in the January shooting rampage that injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, detailing how a gunman killed three of them with gunshots to the head while opening fire on a crowd at a political event.
The autopsy reports detail how the victims died, including federal judge John Roll and a 9-year-old girl born on Sept. 11, 2001. The report said Christina-Taylor Green suffered one gunshot in the torso that struck her aorta and kidney.
Three other victims died from gunshot wounds to the head — Dorwin Stoddard, Phyllis Schneck and Gabe Zimmerman. Zimmerman worked for Giffords and helped organized the event, and Schneck and Stoddard were constituents attending the meet-and-greet. Roll, 63, was shot in the back.
Stoddard was hit twice, including once in the head and once in the midsection.
The reports were released Monday by the Pima County Medical Examiner's office following a court dispute over whether the information should be made public. Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Larry Burns to bar the reports' release and argued that news stories about the autopsies could hurt the chances for a fair trial, but the judge rejected the request.
Jared Lee Loughner faces 49 federal charges in the Jan. 8 shooting that wounded 13 people. Giffords was also shot in the head, and she is recovering at a Houston hospital.
Loughner has pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to assassinate Giffords and two of her aides, and faces a court appearance on Wednesday on additional counts.