Prosecutor: Loughner thought he killed Giffords

PHOENIX (AP) — At the sentencing of the man who shot an Arizona congresswoman in a rampage that killed six, a prosecutor said the attacker saw her as the face of the government he hated.

Prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst says Jared Loughner was convinced he had killed Gabrielle Giffords after shooting her in the head. He only later acknowledged after months of treatment that she was alive “and he had failed.”

Loughner has been diagnosed as schizophrenic.

In his comments, Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly took a swipe at politicians for their vitriolic comments after the shooting.