Woman, 61, praised for confronting gunman

The brave actions of a 61-yr-old woman may have stopped the Arizona gunman from inflicting even more carnage.

US authorities are hailing Patricia Maisch as a hero after she stopped a rampage by a gunman who shot about 20 people, including a congresswoman, by physically confronting him as he tried to reload his gun, AFP reported.

The gunman had already fired a full clip of 31 bullets from a Glock 9mm handgun into a crowd of people who had gathered in a Tucson shopping mall parking lot to meet legislator Gabrielle Giffords.

As he tried to insert a new magazine into the weapons, Maisch lunged forward and grabbed it out of his hands, Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik said.

"This is one of the most heroic acts I've ever seen," he said in an interview with Fox News.

"This lady was standing in line to have her picture taken with Gabrielle when all hell broke loose," he said.

"For whatever reason, she decided something had to be done. She came out of line and tackled the magazine and the gun this guy was holding," he said.

"She might have saved many, many lives," AFP reported.

Ms Giffords, 40, a Democrat who had won re-election in November, was shot through the head and 19 other people were wounded in the attack, including six people who died, among them a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl.

Mr Dupnik had earlier said Ms Maisch was among those wounded in the attack but later said she was unharmed and that he had been misinformed.

At a press conference earlier, Mr Dupnik said that, after Ms Maisch tore the ammunition magazine from the gunman's hand, he pulled out another and reloaded the weapon.

"Fortunately, the spring in the magazine failed, and two gentlemen were able to get it away from him and subdue him until the law enforcement people arrived," Mr Dupnik said.

Also worthy of high praise are two men helped hold the suspect down until police arrived.

Roger Sulzgeber, who was also in line, and Joseph Zimudie, who was at a nearby Walgreens when he heard the shooting, subdued the gunman after Maisch's intervention.

The suspected gunman, Jared Loughner, a 22-year-old Tucson resident, has been charged with offences including murder and attempted murder.