WASHINGTON, DC — A man with a rifle opened fire on Republican members of the congressional baseball team this morning shortly after 7am during their morning practice. Five people were hit with gunfire.
One of the men shot, Steve Scalise, is “the majority whip of the House of Representatives.”
Standing at second base, Mr. Scalise was struck, in the hip, according to witnesses, and collapsed as the shots rang out, one after another, from behind a chain-link fence near the third-base dugout. Witnesses said Mr. Scalise, of Louisiana, “army crawled” his way toward taller grass as the shooting continued.
Two of Scalise’s protective police detail were struck as they exchanged shots with the gunman. That gunman, identified as a 66-year-old man from Illinois, was hit and taken into custody once police arrived.
The motive for the attack is unknown.
At least one of the representatives felt helpless without having a firearm on his person to try and fight back.
Representative Mo Brooks, Republican of Alabama, told CNN that the gunman, who had a rifle, had said nothing as he opened fire. At least 50 shots were fired, congressional sources said.
Mr. Brooks said he went to the aid of one of the victims and used his belt as a tourniquet to help stop the bleeding from a gunshot to his leg. He said it was about two to five minutes before other officers arrived.
“My adrenaline is raging,” he told CNN. “It’s not easy to take when you see people around you being shot and you don’t have a weapon yourself.”
The only thing that stopped this man from his attempted killing spree were armed men ready to shoot back. Mr. Brooks has the right idea and although he didn’t have a firearm on himself personally, there were people there to fight fire with fire.
More information will be posted here as it comes available.
Active shooter situation during this mornings trip to the Y. Terrifying. Am ok. Sheltered in place & under lockdown. pic.twitter.com/iJs6fZpjiK
— Joseph Miscavige (@JoeMiscavige) June 14, 2017
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