Man attacks congressman's office with bat
A man with a metal baseball bat walked into the northern Virginia office of U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly on Monday, asked for him, and struck two of his workers with the bat, including an intern in her first day on the job, police and the congressman said.
The attack marked the latest in a sharp uptick in violence aimed at lawmakers or those close to them.
Fairfax City Police said officers arrived within minutes and took the man into custody without incident and that the two staff members were being treated for injuries that were not lifethreatening.
The congressman, who wasn't in the office at the time, said he knew of no motive for the attack, calling it “unconscionable and devastating” in a post on Twitter.
Connolly said in an interview that the suspect was known to police in Fairfax, adding, “he's never made threats to us so it was unprovoked, unexpected and inexplicable.”
“I have no reason to believe that his motivation was politically motivated, but it is possible that the sort of toxic political environment we all live in, you know, set him off, and I would just hope all of us would take a little more time to be careful about what we say and how we say it.”
Connolly said the two people attacked were an intern, who was struck in the side, and his outreach director, who was hit on the head.
“Both of them are conscious and talking. They're both are in shock. Their families were with them too,” Connolly said.
The U.S. Capitol Police and Fairfax City Police identified the suspect as XuanKha Tran Pham, 49, of Fairfax. He was being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on charges of malicious wounding and aggravated malicious wounding.
It was not immediately clear if the man had an attorney who could speak for him.
“At this time, it is not clear what the suspect's motivation may have been,” Capitol Police said in a news release announcing a joint investigation with the Fairfax City Police Department.
Special Agents with the Capitol Police Threat Assessment Section have been sent to Fairfax.
Fairfax City Police spokesperson Sgt. Lisa Gardner said police received a call about the attack at Connolly's district office in the Virginia suburb of the nation's capital about 10:50 a.m.
“You could absolutely tell that the people inside were scared. They were hiding. Someone swinging a bat around, I would be scared as well,” Gardner said.
Police arrived in about five minutes and located the suspect in the office, quickly detaining him without further incident, Gardner said.
Police said in a news release that one police officer required treatment for a minor injury.