Tucson Honors 10th Anniversary Of Shooting: WATCH

TUCSON, AZ — Tucson and Pima County honored the lives lost and permanently changed on Jan. 8, 2011 with a virtual ceremony and bell-ringing Friday.

The ceremony at the Historic County Courthouse, broadcast live on Pima County's Facebook page and multiple local television stations, started out with a bell-ringing at exactly 10:10 a.m., the time the shooting started 10 years ago to the day.

The mass shooting took place as former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, was meeting with her constituents in a Tucson parking lot. Six died and 12 were injured, including Giffords, who lives with the injuries she sustained that day. She has since retired from Congress and become a gun control advocate, along with her husband, newly-elected Sen. Mark Kelly.

Giffords marked the anniversary in a Twitter thread, saying the day changed her life forever.

"Ten years ago, my life and my community changed forever," she wrote. "I was shot in the head, six people were killed, 12 others injured. But the attack did not break me—or the people I represented in Congress. We came together, turned pain into purpose, and found hope in each other."

She also thanked her Tucson community for coming together in difficult times and urged Tucsonians to continue working towards a "safer America."

"Tucson never stops fighting and we move ahead together, as an example for the nation," Giffords said. "My recovery has taught me to celebrate even small victories—and treat every day as a new opportunity. To achieve a safer America, we must continue our work through the next decade and beyond."

The ceremony was virtual with limited in-person attendance due to a surge in coronavirus cases in Arizona and Pima County. In addition to the bell-ringing, the event included a presentation of flags from an honor guard, a speech from Ron Barber, a former Congressman who was shot 10 years ago, and a prayer from Rev. Joe Fitzgerald.

A video also introduced the new memorial honoring the victims of the shooting. "Embrace” tells the story of the lives lost and people wounded, featuring sloping walls full of symbols embodying the values and interests held by each victim. It also honors Tucson's first responders, Tucson’s history, and the aspirations for the future of the community. The memorial is surrounded by six gardens, named for each of the six who died.

Pima County officials hope to open the memorial to the public by early February, pending the status of the pandemic.