Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A federal judge has ordered Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner returned to a federal prison medical facility in Springfield, Mo., until he is sentenced in November.

U.S. District Judge Larry Burns ordered Loughner back to the facility where he's been treated for mental illness on Wednesday.

Loughner pleaded guilty in a Tucson court on Tuesday to killing six people and wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others in January 2011.

The plea came just after Burns ruled Loughner could understand the proceedings and was competent to assist in his defense. Loughner has been treated at the Springfield facility for more than a year for schizophrenia. He was forcibly medicated for some of that time but now takes his medication voluntarily.

A plea agreement requires that Loughner serve life without parole.

Image courtesy Bill Robles