lsanderson | http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/09/gabrielle-giffords-critical-condition-shooting-arizona

The US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords today remained in a critical condition in hospital after being shot at point-blank range at a public meeting outside a supermarket in Arizona yesterday.

Six other people, including a nine-year-old girl, a federal judge and a member of Giffords's staff, were killed when a gunman opened fire outside a supermarket in Tucson where Giffords was meeting with constituents, shooting 18 people.

Giffords, a 40-year-old Democratic member of the House of Representatives, was in a critical condition at the University Medical Centre in Tucson, where she was operated on by a team of neurosurgeons.

Dr Peter Rhee, the medical director of the hospital's trauma and critical care unit, said a bullet had passed directly through her brain.

She had been shot once in the head "through and through", he said at a news conference.

Rhee said he believed Giffords would recover, but added that doctors could not speculate on what her long-term condition might be.

"I can tell you at this time I am very optimistic about her recovery," he added. "We cannot tell what kind of recovery, but I'm as optimistic as it can get in this kind of situation."

The nine-year-old girl who was killed has been named as Christina Taylor Greene. Born on September 11 2001, her parents described her as the "best daughter in the world". http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/09/gabrielle-giffords-critical-condition-shooting-arizona