Shot US lawmaker appears in public

WASHINGTON: US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has made her first public appearance since being shot in the head at a political event in Arizona in January, it was reported Tuesday.

A smiling Giffords emerged in a wheelchair and rose to kiss her astronaut husband Mark Kelly as he received an award at a ceremony attended by hundreds of people near the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, ABC News said.

Her hair was much shorter than in previously released photos, and she wore glasses, a beige scarf, a light shirt, jeans and sneakers, it said.

She appeared to be in good spirits, talking and laughing with those sitting next to her as the crew of the recently returned space shuttle Endeavour, a mission commanded by her husband, were honored.

She left the event early during home movies of the crew, all of whom were being awarded the Space flight Medal for returning safely.

Giffords was discharged from hospital earlier this month, five months after she was shot point blank in the head in an attack that shocked the nation.

She was to move into Kelly's home nearby to continue her recovery.

A hospital spokesman at the time said she had "shown clear, continuous improvement from the moment she arrived," and doctors have repeatedly expressed surprise at the speed of her recovery.

Six people, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, were killed and 12 others wounded in the January 8 shooting spree, which stunned the nation and made headlines around the world.

In March, the alleged shooter, Jared Loughner, was declared mentally unfit to stand trial. Experts found the 22-year-old to be schizophrenic and unable to help in his own defense or understand court proceedings.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011