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Arizona Shooting Heroes


Amid the bloody horror of the Tucson shootings last January, which took the lives of 6 people and wounded 13, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, it was possible to miss the acts of heroism that succeeded in bringing down gunman Jared Lee Loughner. After Loughner began shooting people at a Giffords event, Retired Army Colonel Bill Badger, 75, grabbed Loughner's wrist and pushed him to the ground. Roger Salzgeber, 61, also pounced, throwing his body weight on top of Loughner. As the gunman struggled to pull another magazine from his pocket, Patricia Maisch, 62, scooped it up, preventing him from reloading. All three point out that many others behaved with heroism that day: nearby shoppers, first-responders, hospital personnel. "One of the lessons I've learned is there are very good people out there," Maisch says.

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