FBI: Gunman who shot congressman had not made plan

Official: At this point, the attack ‘appears more spontaneous.’

Adrift and nearly out of money after three months of living out of his van in the Washington area, the gunman who shot a top House Republican and four other people on a Virginia baseball field didn’t have any concrete plans to inflict violence on the Republicans he loathed, FBI officials said Wednesday.

James T. Hodgkinson, 66, was shot and killed by police after he opened fire on Congressional Republicans practicing for their annual charity baseball game against Democrats last week. Rep. Steve Scalise of Lousiana, the House majority whip, was struck in the hip and gravely wounded.

Scalise remains hospitalized, and his condition was upgraded to fair on Wednesday. All five people who were shot, including two U.S. Capitol police officers, survived.

At a news conference Wednesday, FBI officials, providing an overview of the evidence they have gathered on Hodgkinson, said he acted alone and had no connections to terror groups.

It wasn’t even clear whether he had prior plans to attack the baseball practice or whether he just happened upon it the morning of June 14, said Tim Slater, who leads the criminal division of the FBI’s Washington field office.

“At this point in the investigation, it appears more spontaneous,” Slater said.

Hodgkinson had a piece of paper with the names of six members of Congress written on it, Slater said, but the note lacked any further context and there was no evidence from his computer, phone or other belongings that indicated he planned to target those officials. Slater declined to name the officials.

Hogkinson was an unemployed home inspector from Belleville, Ill., who frequently railed against Republicans in letters to the editor and angry social media posts. In November, shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, he purchased the two guns that he used in the shooting, a rifle and a 9mm handgun.

In March, Hodgkinson left Illinois and drove to Alexandria, Va., where he lived in his van in a YMCA parking lot. He rented a storage unit where he kept more than 200 rounds of ammunition, among other belongings.

In April, Hogkinson visited sites including the Capitol and a Senate office building and took pictures, the FBI said. He also took pictures of the baseball field where he would later fire more than 60 shots.

In addition, Hodgkinson visited the office of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose campaign he had worked on as a volunteer.

The FBI statement and Slater’s comments painted a picture of a down-on-hisluck man with few future prospects.

“He was running out of money. He was not employed at the time of the event, and he was looking for some local employment. He was married for 30 years, and it appears that that marriage was not going so well,” Slater said. “It was just a pattern of life where you could tell things were not going well.”