Ryan hails officers’ lifesaving actions
‘We are, as ever, awed by the tremendous bravery,’ speaker says
They weren’t the typical victims of a combat-style rifle assault: the House majority whip, a congressional aide, a prominent lobbyist and two Capitol Hill police agents.
It was supposed to be a fun getaway at a congressional Republican baseball practice. “If you ever see the movie The
Rookie, it’s kind of like that,” one of the players, Rep. Mo Brooks, RAla., recalled. “You get to play baseball and get to set aside the stress of the moment for all the policy challenges our nation faces.”
Instead, the morning ended in dozens of bullet casings and wounded people after a gunman opened fire. Police identified the victims as:
House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. He was shot in the hip and is out of surgery in critical condition. “The bullet travelled across his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring internal organs, and causing severe bleeding,” MedStar Washington Hospital Center said. “He has received multiple units of blood transfusion ... and he will require additional operations.”
Two Capitol Hill police agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey. They were wounded but were in good condition.
Zach Barth, an aide to Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas. He was listed in stable condition.
Matt Mika, a lobbyist for Tyson foods. He was shot several times and was in critical condition.
Scalise is the third-ranking lawmaker in the chamber.
The 51-year-old Republican congressman is from Metairie, not far from New Orleans. The conservative former state legislator was elected as majority whip in 2014.
President Trump made an evening visit to the hospital where Scalise is being treated.
Trump arrived around 8:45 p.m. at Medstar medical center, where Scalise underwent surgery Wednesday. The hospital said after the surgery that Scalise remained in critical condition.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, RWis., lauded Griner and Bailey, the Capitol Police special agents, for saving lives through their quick action. “We are, as ever, awed by the tremendous bravery of the Capitol Police,” he said, adding that he had spoken with both agents.
Rank-and-file members of Congress do not usually have security details, but Bailey and Griner were at the baseball field because of Scalise’s role in House leadership.
“I expressed our profound gratitude to them. It is clear to me, based on various eyewitness accounts, that without these two heroes — Agent Bailey and Agent Griner — many lives would have been lost,” Ryan said.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a member of the baseball team, told CNN on Wednesday morning the only reason everyone was alive was because of the Capitol Police.
“Our lives were saved by the Capitol Police. Had they not been there, I think it would have been a massacre,” he said. “The field, I mean, was basically a killing field.”
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who was also on the field met with the officers Wednesday.
“The heroes are the police officers who attacked the shooter and in doing so quite possibly saved many, many lives,” a visibly upset Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said.
Barton is the team’s manager, and his son was with him at Wednesday morning’s practice.
According to Bailey’s LinkedIn page, he’s been a Capitol Police officer for more than nine years.
Barth, a legislative correspondent, joined Williams’ office in September after working for five months for former Texas Republican congressman Randy Neugebauer, according to public records.
A legislative correspondent is a junior congressional position generally responsible for responding to constituent concerns about various issues.
Barth posted on Facebook shortly after the shooting: “I got shot this morning at the baseball fields but am in the hospital and okay,” he wrote. “Thank you for the thoughts and prayers.”
Williams’ office initially referred callers to the congressman’s Twitter posts in which he said Barth was “doing well and is expected to make a full recovery.” Williams has served as a coach for the Republican team since he came to Congress in 2013.
Later Wednesday, Williams, who sprained an ankle and was on crutches, described how Barth continued texting to alert authorities of the need for help even after he’d been shot.