Arizona Sheriff Dupnik Silenced on Loughner Shooting

There are many angles to this one. As Sheriff Dupnik's mouth kept running about how talk radio and rhetoric was responsible for Jared Loughner's shooting spree, multiple people pointed to how the more he spoke, the more he would damage the prosecution's case. It appears that speculation has become a reality based on a news report from Tucson's ABC affiliate, KGUN-9. Indications are that there is some friction between the Sheriff's Office and the County Attorney's Office.

Via KGUN:

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - The Pima County Sheriff's Department has suddenly turned off the flow of information in the January 8th mass shootings in Tucson. Shortly after noon Tuesday Sheriff's PIO Jason Ogan released this terse, one-line statement:

"Until further notice, due to a controversy between the Sheriff's Department and the County Attorney's office, no further information reference the January 8, 2011 shooting will be released."

Interestingly, now that marching orders seem to be taking shape with respect to who is being prosecuted by whom, the County Attorney will have skin in the game, which likely plays a big factor here.

The federal government is prosecuting accused gunman Jared Lee Loughner only on those charges related to his actions against victims who were federal employees. It will be up to County Attorney Barbara LaWall to decide when, and whether, to prosecute Loughner on charges related to the other victims.

The word "controversy" contained in the statement would seem to imply some sort of disagreement or discord between the Sheriff's Department and LaWall's office. But the statement did not elaborate about the nature of the controversy. When contacted by KGUN9 News, LaWall's office declined to comment.

So Loughner will be charged by the Feds relative to the deaths of Judge John Roll and a Giffords aide as well as the attempted murder of Giffords herself. The County Attorney will be responsible for prosecuting Loughner relative to his other victims. Before these prosecutorial lines had been established, Dupnik was popping off and getting phone calls from the President thanking him for his work. If the County Attorney's office is now demanding that Dupnik's Department zip their lips, why didn't the Feds do the same thing in the days after the shooting?

h/t The Blaze