Tucson gunman Loughner pleads guilty to rampage, spared death

Jared Loughner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to killing six people and wounding 13 others, including then-US Representative Gabrielle Giffords, in an Arizona shooting rampage last year, and will be spared the death penalty in exchange.

The 23-year-old community college dropout entered his guilty pleas in federal court in Tucson shortly after US District Judge Larry Burns ruled that he was mentally competent to stand trial following more than a year of treatment at a prison psychiatric hospital.

"I plead guilty," Loughner, dressed in a khaki prison jumpsuit with his hair trimmed short, said to each of the 19 counts read in court by Burns.

Loughner, who court-appointed psychologists say has suffered from schizophrenia and depression, was calm during the hearing, leaning forward attentively in his chair and answering questions with clear, short answers.

The plea deal calls for Loughner to be sentenced to seven consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole, sparing him the death penalty. A sentencing hearing was set for Nov 15.

Giffords, then a US lawmaker from Arizona who was seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, was meeting constituents at a Tucson supermarket on Jan 8 last year when she was shot through the head at close range.

She survived with severe injuries that left her with broken speech and a marked limp. But six other people were killed including US District Judge John Roll and 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green.

The 19 counts Loughner pleaded guilty to include murder, attempted murder and the attempted assassination of Giffords. Federal prosecutors had originally charged Loughner with 49 criminal counts and agreed to dismiss 30 of them.

During an exchange with the judge before formally entering his plea, Loughner admitted going to the "Congress On Your Corner" event hosted by Giffords armed with a loaded Glock 19 pistol and 60 additional rounds of ammunition with plans to kill the congresswoman.

Loughner also admitted shooting other people at the event with the intent to kill them because they had attended.

Even so, the hearing shed little light on Loughner's motive for the attack, although a psychiatrist who testified during the competency portion painted a portrait of mental illness dating back to his time in high school.

Loughner didn't talk to his attorneys or look around the courtroom during the two-hour hearing. He folded his arms in front of him and focused his gaze on the psychologist and judge as they did most of the talking.

His parents sat silently in the back row, but sobbed and embraced after their son left looking frail on his feet.

Reuters-AP