Congresswoman Giffords released from Houston hospital

From CNN: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been released from a Texas hospital where she has been recovering from a January gunshot wound to the head. She soon will start outpatient treatment at the same facility, the hospital said Wednesday.

Giffords, D-Arizona, will move into the home of her husband, NASA astronaut and Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, in League City, Texas, according to TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.

"Congresswoman Giffords has shown clear, continuous improvement from the moment she arrived at TIRR five months ago," Dr. Gerard Francisco, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said in a news release. "We are very excited that she has reached the next phase of her rehabilitation and can begin outpatient treatment. We have no doubt that she will continue to make significant strides in her recovery."

Six people were killed and 13 others, including Giffords, were wounded when a gunman opened fire in front of a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, is charged in the shooting. A federal judge ruled last month that he is not competent to stand trial, based on the results of court-ordered medical evaluations of Loughner. The U.S. attorney general will take custody of Loughner for a period not to exceed four months, during which he will be taken to a hospital for further evaluation to determine if he will become competent to stand trial.