Report: More than 40 rounds fired at gunman
Actions called justified in response to shooting at charity game practice
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and Alexandria police department fired more than 40 rounds to subdue and eventually kill the man who shot and wounded Rep. Steve Scalise, R-LA., and others on a northern Virginia ballfield, a prosecutor’s report has found.
The report released Friday by Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter concluded officers were justified in using lethal force to confront James Hodgkinson,
66, who wounded Scalise and four others, including a police officer, in June during a practice for a charity baseball game.
“This case did not present a close call,” Porter wrote. “To the contrary, not only were the actions of the agents and officers reasonable, they were obligatory in light of the overwhelming and determined force employed by the suspect.”
Hodgkinson fired at least 70 rounds, according to the report, including 62 from an Sks-style semi-automatic assault rifle. After Hodgkinson was first struck in the hip by an officer’s bullet, he dropped the rifle and fired another eight rounds from a handgun.
The report states that an Alexandria officer and a Capitol Police officer each fired shots that struck Hodgkinson. The report credits the officers for pinning Hodgkinson down and placing him in custody within 10 minutes of the initial shots.
Hodgkinson later died from his injuries.
According to the report, Hodgkinson first opened fire from outside the third-base dugout of the field at 7:06 a.m. Capitol Police Special Agent David Bailey, who was at the field with partner Crystal Griner to provide routine security for Scalise, returned fire from an area near the first-base dugout.
After Bailey fired about
10 rounds, Hodgkinson was forced to take cover behind a press box behind home plate. It was there he exchanged fire with Griner, who was shot in the ankle.