We Are So Very Sorry': Family of AZ Shooter Releases First Public Statement

While the family of Jared Lee Loughner continues to stay out of the public spotlight, the 22-year-old alleged killer's family reached out to the public today to offer their heartfelt condolences to the victims of their Loughner's shooting spree last Saturday.

In a statement released late Tuesday afternoon, the family of the Tucson shooting suspect said they "don't understand why" Saturday's shooting rampage occurred, but that they "care very deeply about the victims and their families."

"There are no words that can possibly express how we feel," the statement reads in part. "We wish we could change the heinous events. ... We are so very sorry for their loss," the statement said.

The family also asked that the media respect its privacy.

Loughner's parents, Randy and Amy Loughner, have kept out of the public eye since their son was apprehended Saturday and even skipped their son's first court appearance on Monday.

George Payan, the Loughners' next-door neighbor says the family has increasingly withdrawn from the community in recent years, but nevertheless was surprised to hear that Jared Loughner's behavior had taken a turn for the worse.

"I've learned more about his behavior reading the newspaper than anything I'd seen since he was a little boy," Payan said. "His behavior this weekend, he didn't display any of that in the neighborhood."

"Things like this happen, but it's always somewhere else. When it's in your own neighborhood, it's pretty hard to digest."

George Osler, the father of one of Jared Loughner's close friends, also described his shock to the Associated Press, noting that the relationship between Jared and his parents seemed to have recently deteriorated: