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TUCSON - John Roll was shot and killed during Saturday's mass shooting at the Safeway grocery store at Ina Rd. & Oracle Rd.

Named Arizona's chief federal judge in 2006, U.S. District Judge John M. Roll won acclaim for a career as a respected jurist and leader who had pushed to beef up the court's strained bench to handle a growing number of border crime-related cases.

Roll was appointed to the federal bench in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush.

He previously served as a state trial judge and as a judge on the midlevel Arizona Court of appeals, and as a county and state prosecutor.

Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Roman Catholic Church's Tucson Diocese said Roll was an active parishioner. "He lived his faith as a servant of our nation for the cause of justice," Kicanas said.

Roll was a Pennsylvania native who got his law degree from the University of Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Maureen, three sons, and five grandchildren.