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Jewish Staffer Is Among the Dead

Zimmerman, 30, was Giffords’ community outreach director

by
Marc Tracy
January 10, 2011
Gabe Zimmerman, who was killed Saturday.(Gabe Zimmerman Prayers Page/Facebook)
Gabe Zimmerman, who was killed Saturday.(Gabe Zimmerman Prayers Page/Facebook)

Gabe Zimmerman, 30, was killed Saturday at an event he organized. A Jewish Tucson native, Zimmerman is described as an “avid hiker” who tackled the Grand Canyon from the North to the South Rim. His father works at Pima Community College, which his son’s alleged murderer, Jared Lee Loughner, had attended. He was engaged to Kelly O’Brien, a nurse. If you knew Zimmerman and would like to talk about him, please email me.

The five other reported dead are John M. Roll, 63, the first federal judge murdered since 1989; Dorothy Morris, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; Phyllis Schneck, 79; and Christina Green, 9.

UPDATE: See comments below. JTA’s The Eulogizer reports that Zimmerman was now Jewish. And Rabbi Andy Bachman makes an interesting case.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.