Heroism: Capitol Police officers step forward to stop gunman
A man angry with President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of gunfire Wednesday morning at Republican members of Congress as they held a baseball practice at a park in Alexandria, Virginia, wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others in a frenzied scene that included a long gunbattle with police.
The gunman, James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old unemployed home inspector from southern Illinois, was killed in the shootout. Two Capitol Police officers assigned to Scalise’s security detail were wounded.
Hodgkinson, who had been living in his van in
Alexandria for the past few months, had posted anti-Trump rhetoric on his Facebook page, and had written letters to his hometown newspaper blaming Republicans for what he considered an agenda favoring the wealthy.
The mass shooting, coming amid harsh political rancor and a divided country, reverberated through Washington and beyond, as Trump and members of Congress began talking about unity for the first time since the presidential election.
The targeted lawmakers were practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game, a charity competition against a team of Democrats. The game will be played on Thursday night at Nationals Park as planned.
Several congressmen at the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria praised the Capitol Police officers who engaged Hodgkinson, including two who were injured. One lawmaker said the baseball team members would have been sitting ducks had the gunman been able to make it onto the field.
“It would have been a bloodbath,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.
Rep. Jack Bergman, RMich., a retired Army general, said, “If he had been able to gain entrance to the field, it would have been a whole different story,” he said.
As of Wednesday evening, Scalise, of Louisiana, remained in critical condition after undergoing surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. A lobbyist, a congressional aide and a Capitol Police officer also were shot, while a second officer was struck by shrapnel. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, injured his ankle while helping others take cover.
In a televised statement from the White House, Trump called for people to come together and commended the injured officers.
“Many lives would have been lost if not for the heroic actions of the two Capitol Police officers who took down the gunman despite sustaining gunshot wounds during a very, very brutal assault,” he said.
Trump said he spoke with Scalise’s wife and offered his full support to the congressman’s family, calling Scalise a friend, patriot and fighter. He also thanked the first responders.
“We may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, they love our country,” Trump said.
Lawmakers and bystanders described a horrific attack that began shortly after 7 a.m., when the shooter began firing more than 50 rounds from a military-style rifle and a handgun, taking aim through the chain-link fence.
Scalise was felled by a bullet to the hip as he fielded grounders at second base, witnesses said. Then the aide and the lobbyist were struck as the gunman moved methodically around the fence and toward the home-plate backstop. As Scalise crawled across the field, leaving a trail of blood, the gunman advanced toward a dugout, where several people were hiding.
Congressmen said the Capitol Police officers emerged from the dugout, moving toward the gunfire. A woman walking her dog heard a female officer scream, “Drop your weapon,” before the gunman “shot her and she fell to the ground.” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the officers “went out into the fire to draw the fire. The shooter was moving toward the dugout where the members were, and they were able to take him down.”
Authorities said five people were taken to hospitals, including Hodgkinson. Matt Mika, a lobbyist for Tyson Foods, was in critical condition at George Washington University Hospital, a spokeswoman said. Zach Barth, a legislative correspondent for Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, was shot in the leg and released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.
The House Speaker’s office identified the injured Capitol Police officers as special agents David Bailey, who was treated and released from a hospital, and Crystal Griner, who was struck in the ankle and hospitalized in good condition. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa said both are expected to recover fully. Police identified a third officer who participated as Special Agent Henry Cabrera. They did not say which officers fired their weapons.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Hodgkinson volunteered on his 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, although an aide said that he had no formal role and that no one could remember him. Sanders denounced the shooting, saying on the Senate floor that he was “sickened by this despicable act.”
About 20 people were on the field at the time of the shooting, many catching fly balls from batting practice, and when the gunfire started, players and onlookers took cover in dugouts, under a sport-utility vehicle or in the open on the ground. Barton, the team manager, said the gunman, dressed in blue jeans and a blue shirt, shot at Scalise at second base and fired toward third baseman Trent Kelly, R-Miss.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., still wearing red and white baseball shirt with “Republicans” plastered on it, said he recalled seeing the rifle and then hearing shots. He said the gunman was firing “at anybody he could hit. I don’t know if anybody was targeted, but I just remember seeing some of the gravel bounce up as gunfire hit.”
Bullet holes were left in windows of the YMCA, and bullets were in the swimming pool. Several churches in Alexandria planned community prayer services for Wednesday evening.
Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Barton — managers of the respective teams — said they will still take to the field Thursday night.
“We’re united not as Republicans and Democrats but as United States representatives,” Barton said. “It will be ‘play ball’ tomorrow night, 7:05.”