Hayden Tract

This episode is based in part on the real-life case of Arizona Senator Gabrielle Giffords (D). On January 8, 2011 Giffords was a victim of an assassination attempt near Tucson, at a Safeway supermarket where she was meeting publicly with constituents. She was critically injured by a gunshot wound to the head; six people were killed and thirteen injured in the shooting, among them federal judge John Roll and a 9-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green. The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner is currently serving life without the possibility of parole in federal prison after pleading guilty in order to avoid the death penalty. He pled guilty to 19 felony counts including attempted assassination of a sitting US Congressman and murder of a federal judge for the death of judge John Roll.

While watching the video of the shooting Detective Jaruszalski ID's the pistol the shooter is using as a Glock 17. Later on when the police learn the shooter's identity they found out three years earlier he had purchased a handgun, a Glock 26. Yet at his trial they once again say his gun was a Glock 17. Both guns are the same caliber, 9x19 mm, but different models. The Glock 17 is a full sized model and the Glock 26 is a subcompact model.

In the DVD of this episode, director/writer Rene Balcer provides commentary.

Referenced in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Reparations (2011)