A MAN WHO was shot in last week’s shooting spree in Arizona has been brought for an involuntary mental evaluation after allegedly making threatening comments to a Tea Party leader.

James Eric Fuller, 63, was shot twice – in the knee and back – on Saturday 8 January during an horrific attack that left six people dead and congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in intensive care.

During the taping of a television show for ABC News about the tragedy in a town hall, Fuller confronted Trent Humphries – the  leader of the conservative Tea Party movement in Tucson - after Humphries made comments that Fuller considered objectionable. According to the Washington Post, Humphries made the suggestion that any conversation about altering the gun laws in the US should be delayed until after the victims of the shooting had been laid to rest.

Conflicting about the incident have emerged: CNN reports that Fuller became agitated when the subject of gun control was raised and began mumbling something that prompted security guards to remove him from the scene. However Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jason Ogan told reporters that Fuller stood taking pictures of Humphries and then began to shout threats at him, saying: “You’re dead”.

Fuller, a war veteran who had assisted in Gabrielle Giffords’ campaign in the past, was arrested for disorderly conduct and forced to undergo a 72-hour involuntary mental evaluation.