The alleged attempted assassin of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been formally charged with five federal felony counts resulting from Saturday's Tucson gun rampage in which Giffords was shot through the head, six others were killed and 14 others wounded.  Jared Lee Loughner, 22 years old, remains in custody and is reportedly refusing to talk to investigators.

Giffords underwent emergency surgery as one bullet crossed through her brain.  She survived the shooting and the operation but her future remains uncertain as she continues in critical condition. Doctors say they know more about her recovery in the next 72 hours.

Meanwhile, the federal investigation into the shooting has deepened and officials say they are seeking a second "person of interest" which might have been involved. (On report says that part of the probe has been dropped).

There's also some new evidence suggesting that Loughner may have been connected with a far-right anti-semitic group. FBI Director Robert Mueller, for his part, now says he is convinced that Giffords was a premeditated target and was not just a random victim, 

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik told the press he was disappointed that the semi-automatic 9 .mm Glock used by Laughner was able to be legally purchased under the lax gun laws of Arizona,  "We're the tombstone of the United States of America. ...I have never been a proponent of letting everybody in this state to carry weapons whenever they want and that's almost where we are." He said the Arizona Legislature "is proposing students and teachers be able to carry weapons. ...Colleges should be run by college presidents, not the Arizona Legislature."

Dupnik also said: "When the rhetoric about hatred ... about mistrust ofgovernment" gets heated, Dupnik says, it inflames "the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week." Dupnik says that "has impact on people, especially those who are unbalanced personalities to begin with.

While so far Loughner has been described as a mentally troubled loner, there are fresh reports today of a possible link between him and American Renaissance, the publication of an anti-semitic and anti-immigration group.  Fox News has made public an internal memo from the Department of Homeland Security looking at the shooter's possible ties to the far-right group, The Christian Sciecnce Monitor reports, citing the memo revealed by Fox News. The memo reads in part:

"[S]trong suspicion is being directed at AmRen / American Renaissance. Suspect is possibly linked to this group. (through videos posted on his myspace and YouTube account.). The group’s ideology is anti government, anti immigration, anti ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti Semitic. Gabrielle Gifford is the first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government. She was also opposite this group’s ideology when it came to immigration debate."

Long-time chronicler of the American extreme right, Chip Berlet, also writes that Loughner's public writings on the Internet warned about:

"the "current treasonous laws," and stated he would not "pay debt with a currency that's not backed by gold and silver!." He said he could not "trust the current government because of" Constitutional "ratifications; adding that the "government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people controlling grammar (sic)...."

Says Berlet:

"The writings of Jared Lee Loughner are an odd jumble of right-wing Patriot and anti-Federal Reserve themes mixed with rhetoric similar to that from people who are mentally unbalanced. It is too early to tell where this story will lead. It is clear, though, that aggressiv right-wing rhetoric targeting Democrats as treasonous encourages someunstable people to act out in aggression or violence."

Time magazine also has a long report on Loughnger speculating on his possible motivation:

"What is not clear is what role politics — and, in particular, the red-hot rhetoric of the mid-term elections — played in the shooting. Descriptions one of Loughner's high school classmates posted on Twitter only added to the mystery. "He had a lot of friends until he got alcohol poisoning in '06, & dropped out of school. Mainly loner very philosophical," @caitieparker tweeted. "As I knew him he was left wing, quite liberal. & oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy." And, most ominously, "He was a political radical & met Giffords once before in '07, asked her a question & he told me she was 'stupid & unintelligent.'"

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the Giffords shooting here, here, here and here.