Scalise upgraded to serious condition

WASHINGTON - Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise was upgraded from critical to serious condition Saturday and continued to show signs of improvement after he was wounded in a shooting at a Republican baseball practice Wednesday outside Washington.

Medstar Washington Hospital Center released the update on behalf of the Scalise family. The congressman underwent another surgery Saturday, and the hospital said he was more responsive and speaking with family.

Hospital officials previously said Scalise would need multiple operations and weeks to recover after a bullet tore through his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring internal organs and causing severe bleeding. The hospital’s chief trauma doctor has said Scalise faced “an imminent risk of death” at the time he was brought in.

Scalise, 51, was among four people shot by a gunman identified as James Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Ill., who died after a shootout with police. The other victims are recovering from their wounds.

Hodgkinson, who was said to have been motivated by grievances against President Donald Trump and other Republican politicians, was carrying a list with the names of at least three lawmakers.