Congresswoman no longer needs ventilator

Doctors have removedthe breathing tube ofU.S.congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, another step on her road to recovery after being one of 19 peopleshot last weekend at a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store.

Althoughshe had been breathing on her own since she was shot in the head, doctors had puta breathing tube in as a precaution. Now she should be able to breathe better and doctors will be able to evaluate her ability to speak.

The Arizona congresswoman underwent a procedure to have a tube inserted in her windpipe to protect her airways. While she remains in critical condition, doctors said she is recovering well.

The Tucsongrocery store where Giffords and 18 others were shot was the scene of another memorial service for the victims on Saturday.

Employees returning to work as the Safeway store opened for the first time since the shooting observed a moment of silence in the same parking lot where a gunman opened fire one week ago, killing six people, wounding 13and leaving Giffords fighting for her life.

"I can't explain it, my stomach was in knots all the way coming up here. And then I saw the people, and I knew they want to be here with us to get through this together," Safeway employee Dawn Gallagher told NBC News.

President Barack Obama addressed the nation at a memorial held in honour of the victims on Wednesday night at a gymnasium in Tucson.

Hinting at the political blame game played out after the attempt on Giffords' life, he called on Americans to speak to each other "in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds." Obama said no one can know exactly what triggered the attack or what might have prevented it.

Suspect's timelinebefore shooting

More details are coming out about what the suspect was allegedly doingbefore the shooting rampage.

The Pima County sheriff's department has released what it says is a timeline of the accused shooter's moves hours before the Saturday morning attack.

Authorities say the suspect went on an all-night excursion through the streets of his hometown on the eve of the shooting, which occurred shortly after 10 a.m. local time.

Jared Loughner, 22, went from store to store on a bizarre set of errands.At one point, hebought bullets at a Wal-Mart store.

He was later pulled over by a wildlife officer with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, but was let go because he wasn't acting suspicious.

Highlights of the Loughner timeline (local times):

• 11:35 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7 - Drops off film at a Walgreens.
• 12:35 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 8 - Checks into a motel.
• 2:19 a.m. - Picks up photos.
• 4:12 a.m. - Posts "Goodbye friends" message on Myspace, along with newly developed photos from Walgreens.
• 7:27 a.m. - Buys bullets.
• 7:30 a.m. - Pulled over by wildlife officerfor running a red light.
• 9:41 a.m. - Gets into a taxi and heads to Safeway.
• 10:10 a.m. - First shots are fired in the parking lot of Safeway.

The Los Angeles Timesalso received a copy of a home video, released by Tucson's Pima Community College, which decided last September to suspend Loughner.

The college said Loughner shot the video on campus. In the video, the narrator calls Pima a "genocide school."