Top Republican lawmaker shot at during baseball practice session

Washington, June 15
A top Republican lawmaker and several congressional aides were injured when a gunman sprayed bullets on them as they practised for an annual baseball game in a Washington suburb in what reports said appeared to be a “deliberate attack”.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, 51, was shot in the hip during the practice at a field in Alexandria, Virginia by the yet-to-be-identified rifle-wielding man, who was shot dead by the police. Scalise’s aides said the congressman was stable.
He was first elected to Congress in 2008, after serving as a member of the Louisiana state legislature for more than a decade. Scalise served as majority whip for roughly three years.
A second congressman Roger Williams was also injured, but it was unclear if he was shot or injured in some other way. “Five people were transported medically from the scene,” Alexandria police chief Michael Brown told reporters.
The gunman was shot at by the police, apprehended and taken to a hospital. Later US President Donald Trump in a televised address from the White House announced the shooter has died. He also praised the Capitol Police.
“Many lives would have been lost, if not for the heroic actions of the two Capitol police officers who took down the gunman despite sustaining gunshot wounds during a very, very brutal assault.”
According to a senator, nearly 50 shots rang out during the exchange of fire between the gunman and the lawmakers’ security detail. He said the suspect was a white man with dark hair, apparently in his 40s or 50s, and was wearing jeans and a blue shirt.
About 25 senators and congressmen were practicing for more-than-a-century-old Congressional Baseball Game scheduled for June 15 at Nationals Park when the shooting took place.