Montgomery: On Wednesday, at least 6 people — United States House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Representative Roger Williams, congressional staffer Zach Barth, lobbyist Matt Mike, and 2 Capitol police officers, Crystal Griner and special agent David Bailey, were hospitalized after shots were fired on a ball field in Alexandria, Virginia during practice for a charity baseball game. The alleged shooter, a 66-year-old Illinois man, was shot by police; he died later in a hospital.

“Nobody would have survived without the Capitol Hill police,” Kentucky Senator Rand Paul told CNN. “It would have been a massacre without them.”

A 7.62 mm SKS rifle and a 9 mm pistol were obtained from the scene. According to the FBI, the shooter acquired the arms legally.
Hodgkinson has written many letters to a local newspaper News-Democrat with comments such as “This country is in need of a major change in more ways than one, but let’s start with the federal income tax rates” in 2008 and “We need to vote all Republicans out of office” in 2011. The day before the shooting, Hodgkinson had had a brief but intense in-person outburst in which he said that President Trump messed up the US “more than anyone in the history of this country.”
In 2006, Hodgkinson was arrested after allegedly punching a woman in the face and attempting to choke someone. He also fired a shotgun as part of that incident. The charges were later dismissed. In March, police responded to reports of a gunshot at Hodgkinson’s home and found him holding a hunting rifle. After ascertaining that he had a license for said firearm, they left him with a warning.
Scalise, a Congressperson from Louisiana is the third-highest ranking Republican in the US Congress.
The Congressional Baseball Game, played between Democrats and Republicans, is a tradition for the U.S. Congress. It was played yesterday evening as scheduled, and both teams wore hats from Louisiana State University to honor Scalise. The event raised more than $1 million for Congressional Sports for Charity. It is about twice the previous year’s figure, spokeswoman Meredith Raimondi said. The Democrats won the game, and the ball used in the game was presented to officer David Bailey, who had been released from the hospital after being injured by the shooter.
From Wikinews under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 licence
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