Giffords and husband moving back to Tucson a year and a half after shooting

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is finally moving home to Tucson, Ariz. a year and a half after a mass shooting left her severely injured and six others dead.

On Sunday morning, Giffords’s husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, tweeted “Moving back to Tucson today. Gabby has been waiting for this day for a long time.”

The couple will be traveling from Houston — where Giffords has been receiving specialized care for her injuries — and have reportedly purchased a home in the area, according to local news reports.

The former Arizona lawmaker was one of 13 injured in a Jan. 8, 2011 shooting outside a supermarket in her hometown. The suspect in the shooting, Jared Lee Loughner, pleaded guilty earlier this month to 19 charges, including attempting to assassinate Giffords. Loughner received a sentence of life in prison but escaped the death penalty as part of the plea agreement.

Giffords underwent extensive rehabilitation but resigned her seat in the House a year after the crime to continue focusing on her recovery. She did not stay away from politics long, however. Giffords and her husband have made appearances at constituent events this year, and are even rumored to be attending the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. in September.

Her spokeswoman has yet to confirm whether Giffords plans to attend the event, but her close friend and chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), has expressed Giffords’s interest in making an appearance.

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