First photos of Gabrielle Giffords released

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The first photos of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords have been released since she was shot in the head in a mass shooting in Tucson about five months ago.

The photos appeared early Sunday on her Facebook page.

Both pictures show the congresswoman outside. In one she is alone and smiling at the camera, her hair trimmed short. In another, she is sitting with a woman.

Giffords has been in a Houston rehab facility since two weeks after the Jan. 8 shooting. Six people were killed and 13 were injured, including Giffords.

Since the shooting, the only time the public was able to glimpse Giffords was April 27 as she boarded a plane to Florida to watch astronaut husband Mark Kelly launch into space. The grainy footage showed Giffords slowly but purposefully walking up the airplane's stairs.