Virginia shooting: Top Republican lawmaker injured, gunman dead

Investigators and men dressed in baseball gear gather at Eugene Simpson Field the site where a gunman opened fire June 14 2017 in Alexandria Virginia Multiple injuries were reported from the instance the site where a congressional baseball team was holding an early morning practice including House Republican Whip Steve Scalise RLA who was reportedly shot in the hip PicAFPALEXANDRIAA gunman opened fire on Wednesday on Republican US lawmakers who were practicing near Washington for a charity baseball game wounding senior Republican leader Steve Scalise and several others before being taken into custody police and witnesses saidScalise No 3 in the House of Representatives Republican leadership was shot in the hip at the baseball field in Alexandria Virginia He was tended to by fellow lawmakers including Brad Wenstrup an Ohio congressman who is a physician before being transported to a hospitalThe gunman identified as Illinois resident James T Hodgkinsonwas taken to hospital and died from his injuriesFive people were transported medically from the scene Alexandrias police chief Michael Brown told reportersTwo of the wounded were Capitol Hill police who were at the scene and who engaged in a gunfight with the shooter witnesses saidThe gunman who was armed with a rifle was shot before being taken into custody lawmakers who saw the shooting told reportersScalises office said the Louisiana Congressman was in stable condition and undergoing surgeryPresident Donald Trump said in a tweet that Scalise was badly injured but will fully recoverRepresentative Joe Barton who was at the scene told reporters the gunman was a middleaged man who appeared to be white and was wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama said the shooter said nothing during the rampageThe shooting took place at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria which is across the Potomac River from WashingtonBrooks said 25 to 30 Republican members of the House and Senate had gathered for a practice a day before the annual charity congressional baseball game pitting Republicans against Democrats The game is scheduled to be played at Nationals Park home of the Washington Nationals Major League baseball teamCAPITOL POLICE HEROISMBrooks told CNN that during batting practice he heard a bam and he looked over the third base dugout and saw a rifle and heard a quick succession of shots and saw the gunman shooting through the holes in a chain link fence When Scalise was shot he went down on the infield between first and second base then dragged himself into the grassy outfield as the incident unfolded with a trial of blood following Brooks saidTwo Capitol police officers who were at the scene to provide security for the lawmakers engaged the gunman with pistols Brooks said both suffering woundsBut for the Capitol police and the heroism they showed it could very well have been a largescale massacre All we would have had would have been baseball bats versus a rifle Those arent good odds Brooks saidThe shooting was certain to raise again the contentious issue of gun violence in the United States Brooks estimated that there were 50 to 100 shots fired Its pretty well known in the neighborhood who those folks are on the baseball field Brooks said Its not a secret we are practicing He was going after elected officials Scalises position as whip means he has the difficult job of trying to keep order in the fractious party ranks and rounding up votes for billsDavid Miller who saw the shooting described a scene in which some players were far enough away from the gunman to run for shelter while others were pinned down in the middle of the ball fieldThere was absolutely no shelter They were in the middle of the ball park he said They cant run If they get up they are a target Susan Griffiths spokeswoman for George Washington University Hospital Center said two people were being treated there and were in critical conditionTrump a Republican said in a statement that he and Vice President Mike Pence were monitoring developments closely Democrats were also practicing for this weeks game at another field at a different location CNN reportedWednesdays incident was the first shooting of a member of the US Congress since January 2011 when Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt at a gathering of her constituents in Tucson Arizona She survived but six people were killed Giffords resigned from Congress and became an activist for gun restrictionsMy heart is with my former colleagues their families amp staff and the US Capitol Police public servants and heroes today and every day she said in a Twitter message