Virginia shooting: Rep. Steve Scalise among wounded at congressional baseball practice

House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) has been readmitted to the intensive care unit after contracting an infection from his gunshot wounds from the congressional baseball practice shooting in June, MedStar Washington Hospital Center reported Thursday.

Scalise, who was seriously injured after a gunman opened fire on congressional Republicans during a charity baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 16, has been undergoing treatment for a gunshot wound to the hip that hit his bones and internal organs. He has had multiple surgeries.

One of the top Republicans in Congress, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), was shot and wounded after a gunman opened fire during a congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning in Northern Virginia. Scalise was hit in the hip and underwent surgery; he is currently in critical condition at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

Four others, including a congressional staffer, a lobbyist, and two members of the Capitol Police, were also hit in the attack. The shooter, James Hodgkins, a 66-year-old from Illinois, was taken to a hospital after being shot by police during the attack and died of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, FBI special agent Tim Slater Wednesday.

The attack on Rep. Steve Scalise and his fellow members of Congress Wednesday had Democrats and Republicans alike pointing their fingers at a familiar bugaboo: Washington’s heated political rhetoric.

The only thing both sides could not agree on was how to partition the blame.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — One weekend not long ago, my 10-year-old son and I took our dogs to the park. He chased them around the fenced-in area where they run free and stopped to pet retrievers and terriers who crossed his path. He raced up an embankment in a far corner and gazed down on the rest of the park, over the basketball court, the short green grass where he scored his first soccer goals, and, directly across from his little hill, the baseball diamond.

On Wednesday morning there were members of Congress on that diamond, and also a man with a gun. In the dog park — our dog park — people cowered when dozens of shots filled the air. Officers shot the gunman, who later died. Five other people were wounded, one of whom continues to battle for his life in a hospital.

Shortly after the shooting of Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and three others in Alexandria Wednesday morning, Capitol Hill came together in a rare show of solidarity. “We are united in our anguish,” Speaker Paul Ryan said on the House floor. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”

“You’re going to hear me say something you’ve never heard me say before: I identify myself with the remarks of the speaker,” his rival Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi added after Ryan’s speech. “They are beautiful remarks, Mr. Speaker, thank you so much.”

A House committee was set to consider a bill Wednesday that would make it easier to buy silencers for firearms. Then a gunman opened fire at an early-morning congressional baseball practice in Virginia, injuring House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and three others.

The hearing was postponed in the wake of the shooting, as were most other House activities. The provision’s sponsor, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), left the scene of the shooting shortly before the event unfolded. He believes he met the gunman.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — The shots rang out shortly after 7 am, from the third base side of the baseball field where the local high school team plays, and where Republican members of Congress were practicing for an upcoming charity game. Suddenly those members were hopping a fence and taking shelter in a dog park. One was lying on the outfield grass, apparently hit.

In the dog park, Noah Nathan clutched two leashes. He watched bullets ricochet off a dirt path beyond the right field fence. He heard a cry go up from the players left on the field, directed toward the officers who were swinging into action.

Correction: This post originally said Rep. Steve Scalise was in stable condition based on a statement from President Trump. His condition is critical, according to a report from MedStar Washington Hospital where Scalise is being treated. Here’s latest on the Congressional baseball practice shooting.

The third-most powerful Republican in the House, Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) was shot in the hip this morning at a baseball practice with other members of Congress in Alexandria, Virginia, police confirmed.

Police officials have identified James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old from Illinois, as the gunman who opened fire on Republican lawmakers at a congressional baseball practice early Wednesday morning, shooting House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), as well as several others, multiple news outlets including the Associated Press and Washington Post have reported.

President Donald Trump said Hodgkinson, identified as a white middle-aged man with white facial hair by members of Congress on the scene, died from his injuries after being gunned down by police at the scene. The FBI has taken over the investigation since, said Tim Slater, the special agent in charge of the bureau’s Washington field office. “It’s too early to tell” the motive of the shooter, he said earlier Wednesday.

Members of Congress started Wednesday morning at a baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, preparing for a bipartisan game Thursday night. Then, suddenly, senators and representatives found themselves under gunfire, tying improvised tourniquets as their colleagues and staffers lay bleeding on the ground.

Back at the US Capitol later that morning, several House members shared their accounts with reporters. Four people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), were shot. They are expected to be recover. The gunman was shot and killed by police, President Donald Trump said in a short statement from the White House.

With colleagues still in the hospital, Democrats and Republicans gathered on the House floor Wednesday in a rare moment of bipartisan unity, to reflect on the attack on congressional Republicans earlier Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, a single gunman opened fire on congressional Republicans and their staff at a practice session for the annual charity congressional baseball game, shooting House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) as well as congressional aides and Capitol police officers.

President Donald Trump called for unity in a brief statement about the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and at least four others Wednesday morning.

“We may have our differences,” the president said. “But we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, we love our country.”

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is undergoing surgery after he was shot in Alexandria, Virginia, Wednesday morning. The motive behind the attack, and the identity of the shooter, aren’t yet known.

Scalise was one of five people injured in the shooting, which happened shortly after 7 am at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park, where members of Congress were practicing for the congressional baseball game, police said. The gunman was one of the five people taken to the hospital.

The shooting at the Republican congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning injured Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and several others who are receiving medical attention.

But according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who was there, it could have been far, far worse. Had Capitol Police not been there as part of a security detail for Scalise, Paul said in an interview with MSNBC, “it would’ve been a massacre.”