The Pima County Sheriff’s Department released new details Wednesday showing police had four prior run-ins with Jared Lee Loughner before Saturday’s shooting, including one in 2008 in which an officer noted the accused Arizona gunman’s odd behavior.
The first time police encountered Loughner was in Sept. 2004, when he complained that two students at Mountain View High School pricked him with a needle. Loughner declined to press charges.
In May 2006, the assistant principle at Mountain View High School called the police to report a student had been transported to the hospital after admitting to drinking 350 milliliters of vodka. According to the sheriff’s department press release, Loughner told the responding officer he drank the alcohol because “he was very upset as his father had yelled at him.”
Loughner was issued a misdemeanor citation in Sept. 2007 after a report of a suspicious vehicle led to police finding a marijuana pipe in Loughner’s pocket. Loughner was the passenger in the vehicle.
The last time police encountered Loughner was in Oct. 2008, when he called authorities to report that he believed his identity had been stolen. Loughner, who based his complaint on a Google search of his own name, acted oddly in his interaction with police, the responding officer noted, according to the press release.
The list also includes instances in which Loughner’s family called police to their Tucson home to make complaints.
In 1996, Loughner’s mother, Amy Loughner, reported her expiration tag had been stolen from her car. Randy Loughner, the alleged gunman’s father, reported in Oct. 2002 and in March 2008 that windows of his vehicles had been smashed. Someone at the Loughner residence also made a complaint in March 2010 that a semi-trailer was parked on the street. When the officer arrived, the complainant was reportedly “upset that his neighbors do not keep up their yard and park the wrong way on the street.”
Loughner, 22, is accused of opening fire at a “Congress on Your Corner” event at a grocery store in Tucson Saturday, killing six people and injuring 14. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was hosting the event, was shot in the head and reamains in critical condition at an area hospital.