A gunmen open fire at a GOP charity baseball practice Wednesday morning in Virginia where around 15-25 members of congress were present.
The incident happened around 7 am eastern time as participants were taking part in batting practice before coming under fire. Representative Steve Scalise was reportedly wounded by bullets in the hip area during the shooting that lasted according to senator Rand Paul around 10 minutes before extra help arrived.
Harrowing account from Rand Paul to @Morning_Joe: “There was a rapid succession of shots…I see Representative Scalise is shot but moving.” pic.twitter.com/LLCWXDMc1i
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 14, 2017
In addition to Scalise, two capital police officers – who were returning fire – were shot as well as some congressional staff members.
The suspect, who is described as a middle-aged white male began firing with what was described as a rifle and used the third base dugout as cover. He was eventually shot and taken into custody by police.
As far as majority whip Scalise goes, according to reports he is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery. Additionally because he is in the presidential line of succession he was equipped with capital police as a security detail who many believe prevented this incident from this being a far greater tragedy.
No deaths have been reported at this time.
We’ll have more as it becomes available.
UPDATE: The suspect in the GOP baseball shooting has been identified as 66-year-old James Hodgkinson from Belleville, Illinois.
UPDATE: The shooter, James T. Hodgkinson has reportedly died. He remains the only casualty.
