Wounded Rep. Scalise returns to cheers and hugs at Capitol

WASHINGTON — Greeted by hugs, tears and a roaring standing ovation, a hobbling Majority Whip Steve Scalise returned to the House on Thursday, more than three months after a gunman sprayed fire at a baseball practice and left the lawmaker clinging to life.

“You have no idea how great this feels to be back here at work in the people’s house,” the 51-year-old Louisiana Republican said to a chamber packed with lawmakers, including senators who had crossed the Capitol to welcome him back.

Scalise limped into the chamber on crutches, wearing sneakers, smiling broadly and blowing kisses in his first public appearance since the June 14 shooting.

Scalise and four others were wounded when a gunman opened fire on a Republican baseball practice — GOP and Democratic lawmakers face off in a game each year — in nearby Alexandria, Va. U.S. Capitol Police and other officers returned fire and killed the gunman. The rifle-wielding attacker had nursed grievances against Trump and the GOP.

Scalise was struck in the hip; the bullet tore into blood vessels, bones and internal organs.

He was hospitalized for more than a month and has undergone rehabilitation treatment ever since.

“I’m a living example that miracles do happen,” Scalise said.

Scalise thanked the two Capitol Hill police officers who helped kill the shooter, James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., and he praised the doctors who patched him together through repeated surgeries. The officers, Crystal Griner and David Bailey, were also injured.

“David, you are my hero,” Scalise said to Bailey, who was in the chamber. “You saved my life.” Griner is still recovering at home.