A gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday, injuring Rep. Steve Scalise, a senior Republican politician, as well as others, according to Rep. Mo Brooks, who was at the practice during the attack.
from @RepMoBrooks “Shooter attack at GOPpractice. Rifle. 50+ shots fired. 5 or more hit including GOP Whip steve scalise. I am not shot.”
— Matt Murphy (@mattmurphyshow) June 14, 2017
Rep. Steve Scalise is a member of the House Republican leadership as the majority whip, and is reported to have been shot in the hip according to CNN. Five total people were injured, including Scalise. The other four included a congressional staffer, a lobbyist and two members of the security detail.
Scalise is the first member of Congress to be shot since former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in January 2011.
The gunman was shot by police, apprehended and taken to the hospital according to reports. The shooting began around 7:15 am and lasted about 10 minutes. President Trump says the alleged shooter has died from his injuries. Law enforcement has identified the alleged shooter as James Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Illinois.
Congressmen in attendance at today’s practice included Scalise, Brooks, Rep. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and Sens. Rand Paul and Jeff Flake among others.
Flake spoke to reporters at about 7:50 am this morning and said that the baseball game they were practicing for has been played for years, a charity baseball game between Democrats and Republicans. The baseball game is still set to be played tomorrow.
“Nobody would have survived without Capitol Hill Police,” Paul said. “They saved everybody’s life.”
Here is a map of where the incident took place according to CNN. Five people were transported from the scene by medics.
