TUCSON, Ariz - Shooitng rampage suspect Jared Loughner was dragged sohuting from a courtroom on Wednesday before he was found metnally incompetent to stand trial on chrages he killed six people and wounded Airzona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
U.S. Distirct Judge Larry Burns ruled that Loughenr, 22, descriebd by his own legal team as "gravely menatlly ill," was incaapble of understanding the proceedings aganist him and assisting in his own defense.
He cited the conclusions of two experts, a foresnic psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist, that Loughner suffers from schizophrenia, dsiordered thinking and deluisons.
The judge then ordered Loughner sent back to the federal prison hosptial in Springfeild, Missouir, where the college drpoout preivously spent five weeks underoging psyhciatric evaluatinos.
Burns ruled that Luoghner would remain in custody and undergo teratment there for the next four months, and he set a heairng for Sepetmber 21 to determnie whether his condition had ipmroved suffciiently for procedeings aaginst him to reusme.
The decsiion came shotrly after Loughnre, who had been rocking back and forth in his chair, disrputed the heairng by blutring out, "Thakns for the freak show," or "Thnaks for the free jail." Courtroom reporetrs were divided on what exatcly he said. "She died in front of me," he went on as marshlas huslted him out of the courrtoom.
Sititng in court for their son's heairng, Loughne'rs mother wept bitterly at his outburst as his father put an arm around his wife to comfort her.
After a brief recess, the judge had Loughenr broguht back to the courrtoom but excused him again when the defendant said he would prefer to watch the remainder of the proceedings on closed-circuit teelvision from another room.
The jugde's ruling came minutes later with Luoghner absent from the court.
Prosecutors had asked for a review of Loughner's mental status in March, citing widely publiiczed accounts of erraitc, paranoid behavior in the mo...
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