Officials ID slain Giffords staffer

Zimmerman, 30, was director of community outreach for the congresswoman.

Two other staffers were wounded in the shooting. The two — Pam Simon and Ron Barber — remained hospitalized tonight, said C.J. Karamargin, a Giffords spokesman. He said their prognosis is good.

Officials have confirmed that Gabe Zimmerman is the staffer from Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office who was shot and killed today at a political event.

Zimmerman, 30, was director of community outreach for the congresswoman.

Two other staffers were wounded in the shooting. The two — Pam Simon and Ron Barber — remained hospitalized tonight, said C.J. Karamargin, a Giffords spokesman. He said their prognosis is good.

“Gabe’s life was about public service,” said Tom Zoellner, an author and former newspaper reporter who worked as a volunteer in Giffords’ 2006 campaign with Zimmerman, who was on Giffords’ paid campaign staff. “He wanted to do nothing more from an early age. It ran in his family.”

In his congressional staff job for Giffords, Zimmerman was extremely talented and was also a gentle guy with a sense of humor who cared about Tucson, said Zoellner, a former Arizona Republic reporter who now lives in New York City but also volunteered in Giffords’ 2010 and 2008 campaigns.

“Even in the midst of a tight campaign, he had nothing bad to say about the people we were running against,” Zoellner said of Zimmerman. “Gabe never seemed to take things personally.”