Rep. Giffords learns of the 6 fatally shot

WASHINGTON -- Recovering Rep. Gabrielle Giffords now knows who died in the Tucson shooting rampage in January that left six dead and her own survival from a wound uncertain, her senior press adviser said Saturday.

The Arizona Democrat was told the names of the dead -- including her aide Gabe Zimmerman, U.S. District Judge John Roll and 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green -- days before she returned to Congress late last month, said Mark Kimble.

"She had known for some time that six people had died, and 13 including herself had been wounded," Kimble said. "Near the end of July, shortly before she went to Congress, she asked who had died and she was told."

Giffords made an emotional appearance on Capitol Hill on Aug. 1 to cast her vote on the debt ceiling, another step in a remarkable recovery from the gunshot wound to the brain.

Kimble said he was only aware of Giffords having contacted one of the victim's families. Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, spoke to Zimmerman's father, Ross.

"She was obviously deeply saddened by it, and other than that, it's a private matter," Kimble said. "Doctors felt it was best to wait until she was at a stage in her recovery where she could fully process what she was being told."

Kimble said it was unclear whether, or what, Giffords remembered.

"That was nothing that we really got into, whether she remembers the incident or not," he said.

Giffords is in Houston continuing rehabilitation with a schedule Kimble described as "rigorous" -- speech, physical and occupational therapy, Monday through Friday.

Giffords has not announced whether she will be running for re-election, though Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz told CBS the day after Giffords came to Congress that they expect her to "come back and help us full-time."

Giffords visited her southeastern district of Arizona, which shares a border with Mexico, in mid-June.

"She would like to come back; at this point, there's not firm plans on anything," Kimble said.

In May, the accused shooter, Jared Loughner, was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial over the Jan. 8 attacks.

A federal judge has ordered a hearing Friday for arguments about subpoenas issued by Loughner's attorneys that may shape an insanity defense.

Kimble said Giffords was focusing on her recovery for now.

"She's fully focused on her rehabilitation, that is a full-time job for her," he said. "She went to Washington for that one vote because she thought it was an extremely crucial issue to the future of the country."

Shooting victims killed in Tucson

Christina-Taylor Green, 9

Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, Giffords staffer

John M. Roll, 63, federal judge

Dorwan Stoddard, 76

Phyllis Schneck, 79

Dorothy Morris, 76