House Majority Whip Steve Scalise shot after gunman opens fire on GOP congressional baseball practice

A gunman opened fire on nearly two dozen Republican lawmakers who were practicing for the annual congressional baseball game in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning. Multiple people were reportedly injured, including Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), Capitol Hill police officers, and aides. President Trump later announced that the gunman "died from his injuries."

"There must have been 50 to 100 shots fired," said Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.). Brooks, who hid from the shooter in a dugout, described creating a tourniquet to help a wounded staffer.

Scalise was reportedly shot in the hip near second base and crawled into the outfield to try to get away from the shooter. Scalise is undergoing surgery for his wound, Fox News reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) told Fox News that the gunman asked him and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) "whether there were Republicans or Democrats out there" before opening fire. Multiple outlets report law enforcement officials identified the gunman as Illinois man James Hodgkinson, 66. Hodgkinson campaigned for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in last year's election and is "on the really progressive side of things," an acquaintance said. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa said it was "much too preliminary" to discuss a motive for the shooting.

Read The Week's full coverage of the events here. Jeva Lange

This is a breaking news story and has been updated throughout.