The Hill News

The first photos of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) since she was critically injured in a shooting spree last weekend were released late Tuesday.

Giffords's office released two photos of her husband Mark Kelly holding her hand in her room at the University Medical Center in Tucson. The photos were taken on Sunday, a day after Jared Lee Loughner, 22, allegedly opened fire on a crowd at Giffords's "Congress on Your Corner" event outside a supermarket.

The congresswoman, 40, was shot in the head but doctors now say she will survive her wounds. Giffords is still in critical but stable condition, able to breathe on her own without the assistance of a breathing tube. 

Loughner appeared in federal cou! rt in Phoenix on Monday and faces five federal felony charges, including the attempted assassination of a member of Congress.

Here is one of the photos: