Jared Loughner, the 22-year-old accused of killing six, wounding many, and shooting Ariz. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head, was a “very caring, very sweet” boyfriend six years ago, according to Loughner’s ex-girlfriend Kelsey Hawkes.
“Six years ago we dated, and back then, he was completely different of a person,” Hawkes said in a CBS News interview that aired Thursday. “[He was] very caring, very sweet, a gentle, kind, you know, a little bit quiet. But altogether a pretty great guy.”
Hawkes and Loughner dated in high school for a little under a year, and during that time, Hawkes had a glimpse into his family life, which appeared normal.
“From my experience with [his family], they were actually really great. His mom is a very sweet lady, very, very kind and thoughtful and…his dad was always very kind to me, as well,” Hawkes said.
When asked if she agreed with reports that Loughner’s father, Randy, had become increasingly reclusive in recent years, Hawkes said her brief interactions with Randy weren’t anything out of the ordinary.
“He may have been keeping to himself,” Hawkes said. “But I mean, he had hobbies at home that he worked on. But, I mean, besides that, I did interact with him, you know, here and there when I would go over to the house. But I mean never, never anything that drew me as unusual.”
Hawkes said she didn’t see anything in Jared Loughner’s younger self that would lead her to believe he’d carry out a mass shooting.
“The Jared that I used to know is completely changed from what the world sees him now as,” Hawkes said. “You know, I would never have ever expected him to become what he has.”
Though they haven’t been in touch since their relationship ended six years ago, Hawkes hadn’t heard “good news” about Loughner’s progression.
“I don’t know if I can say exactly things that I’ve heard, but just from recalling in general it was never any good news,” Hawkes said. “I seemed to get the impression that he was becoming a little more isolated, some involvement in drugs and alcohol I’d heard hints of, but like I said never, never anything good to hear about how he was doing. But I didn’t try to gain contact with him after hearing anything, or neither did he with me.”
Upon learning that Loughner was the suspected gunman responsible for Saturday’s shooting, Hawkes said she was very taken aback.
“It was probably one of the more surprising things I’ve ever heard in my life,” Hawkes said. “I’d been at work that day and I’d heard pieces of…characteristics things about this person who had done all this and then finally when I had been given the name of who it was, everything just fell together and I couldn’t believe it and it was very emotional, I was very upset that I mean the person that I used to know could become so changed.”
ABC News reported a friend of Loughner’s saying that he went off the deep end after his high school girlfriend, who CBS News reported was Hawkes, broke up with him. Loughner began smoking salvia and drinking alcohol, and that’s when former friends say he began to exhibit violent behavior.
Bryce Tierney, a former friend of Loughner’s, said Loughner began displaying signs of trouble during their sophomore and junior years of high school. Loughner started obsessing about “lucid dreaming,” mind control theories, and Giffords.
When Tierney first heard that Giffords had been shot, he immediately thought Jared was the gunman.
“They hadn’t released the name, but I said, ‘Holy shit, I think it’s Jared that did it.'”