US lawmakers back at work after shooting

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers returned to regular business on Thursday and prepared to play their annual charity baseball game, one day after a man who had expressed anger towards President Donald Trump opened fire on Republican legislators, leaving a senior congressman in critical condition.

Vice-President Mike Pence said he visited on Thursday morning the Washington hospital where Steve Scalise, the No 3 Republican in the US House of Representatives, was being treated for injuries to internal organs, broken bones and severe bleeding after being shot in the left hip.

Scalise, 51, and three others were wounded when a man identified as James Hodgkinson, 66, from the St Louis suburb of Belleville, Illinois opened fire on Republican lawmakers in Alexandria, Virginia practising for the charity game. The others wounded were a police officer, a congressional aide and a lobbyist.

The charity game, pitting Repub- lican lawmakers against their Democratic colleagues, was set to proceed as scheduled at Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team, with thousands of spectators expected in the stands.

Representatives for MedStar Washington Hospital Centre and Scalise offered no updates on his condition on Thursday morning.

Trump, after visiting the Louisiana Republican at the hospital, on Wednesday said Scalise was “in very tough shape — but he is a real fighter.”

The gunman died after being wounded in a gunfight with police. He had a history of posting angry messages against Trump and other Republicans on social media.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the attack, which has raised questions about lawmakers’ security, renewed the nation’s contentious debate over guns and drawn fresh attention to the harsh rhetoric that reflects the deep political divisions in America.