One of the victims in the Jan. 8 shootings in Tucson, Ariz. was a relative of a member of the Brandeis community, according to a Jan. 10 communitywide e-mail from University President Frederick Lawrence.Gabe Zimmerman, an aide to Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the alleged main target of the attacks, was International Business School student Ben Zimmerman's brother.

In his e-mail, to the Brandeis community, Lawrence wrote, "Any act of violence is abhorrent, but the shooting of an elected public servant strikes at the core of our democratic society. The tragedy of the attack hit this community in a very personal way.

"I know everyone at Brandeis joins me in extending our heartfelt sympathy to Ben and his family during this very dark time," Lawrence wrote.

At a Jan. 12 memorial event for the victims of the shootings held at McKale Memorial Center at the University of Arizona, President Barack Obama said, "Everything-everything-Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion. But his true passion was helping people. As [Giffords'] outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constitutions his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits that they had earned, that veterans got the medals and the care that they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved-talking with people and seeing how he could help.