Memorial for 2011 Tucson shooting victims to be dedicated Friday

PHOENIX — A memorial honoring the victims and survivors of the 2011 shooting in Tucson will be dedicated Friday in a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

The memorial, named “Embrace,” is located west of the Historic County Courthouse in downtown Tucson.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, the ceremony and dedication is closed to the public but will be livestreamed on Pima County’s Facebook page beginning at 9:55 a.m.

The event will begin with a presentation of flags from an honor guard comprised of members of the Northwest Fire District, Pima County Sheriff’s Department and other first responders, according to the county’s website.

Banner University Medical Center chaplain Rev. Joe Fitzgerald will offer a prayer, while Ron Barber, a former then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords aide who was wounded in the shooting, will give remarks.

A bell ringing will take place at exactly 10:10 a.m., the time when the first shots were fired.

The shooting outside a Safeway store, where Giffords was holding a meet-and-greet event, left six people dead and 13 others injured.

The six who died included U.S. District Judge John Roll and 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green.

An eight-minute video detailing how the memorial was created, along with reactions from survivors and victims’ family members, will close out the ceremony.

Officials hope the memorial will be open to the public by early February if permitted by pandemic conditions, the county said.

Construction of the memorial was funded through donations and was delayed several times after workers found pottery and other historic items buried underground.

The gunman, Jared Loughner, is serving multiple life sentences.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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