Smith not among reps at Virginia shooting

A witness outside the Alexandria, Virginia ballpark where five people were shot Wednesday captured dramatic video of the attack on his cell phone.

Law enforcement has identified the shooter as James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois, according to a federal law enforcement sources. His condition is critical, and he will require additional operations. He said the gunman had "a rifle of some sort. a lot of ammo".

"We were fortunate that Steve was out there, and if he wasn't out there, who knows how many people would have been killed or injured", Grothman said. He said Barth was being treated and was expected to make a "full recovery". Alexandria police soon arrived on the scene to assist the Capitol police as the gunman switched from a rifle to a pistol.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, made a hospital visit on Wednesday evening. "We are all praying for those who were attacked and for their families", a somber House Majority Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told his hushed colleagues in a powerful, emotional address to Congress.

Lobbyist Matt Mika also was wounded in Wednesday's shooting.

Representative Mo Brooks told CNN that during batting practice he heard a "bam" and then a quick succession of shots and saw the gunman shooting through the holes in a chain link fence.

A gunman opened fire on a baseball field in Alexandria, Va., where the Republican team was practicing around 7 a.m., and Mr. Scalise was standing on second base when he was shot in the hip.

Tim Slater, Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Division for the FBI's Washington Field Office, later declined to immediately identify a motivation for the shooting.

"It's too early to say". "We are exploring all angles".

"Since May, someone has threatened to shoot Rep. (Martha) McSally in the head".

In recent years, after high-profile mass shootings occurred, such as the carnage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in CT in 2012 which claimed 28 lives, including 20 children, Democrats tried but failed each time to reform the country's flawed gun laws.

One post from March states: "Trump is a Traitor". He avoided issuing partisan blame for the attack, which was carried out by an assailant who had expressed anger at Trump's election and support for Democratic candidates. "It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co". According to published reports, Hodgkinson volunteered for Vermont Sen. The Vermont senator said he was "sickened" by the shooting.

"Scalise was lying motionless on the field - he'd dragged himself off the infield into the outfield".

Tenney's spokeswoman, Hannah Andrews, said the office alerted U.S. Capitol Police.

Lawmakers noted their good fortune in having armed protectors on hand - "Thank God", they exclaimed over and over - and said otherwise the shooter would have been able to take a huge deadly toll.

"What would have happened if Steve hadn't had his security staff out there?" "We ask you to join us". "Without his detail it would have been a turkey shoot". He is a representative from Louisiana. In person, people are courteous, said Gutierrez, who has been a highly recognizable face in this city since his first campaign for alderman.

"I don't think about it every day. We've getting cuckoo insane - if we aren't there already - where you can't go to a ballpark and participate and practice for an event that has been around for many years". Deputies who had blocked off the street also drove away.

"We may have our differences but we do well in times like these in times like these that everyone who serves in our nation's capital is here because above all they love our country", said Trump, speaking from the White House's Diplomatic Room. We're in a process of dehumanizing each other and it's got to stop.

He also said that lawmakers and others were lucky that Capitol Police were at the scene. They added that as a member of leadership, Scalise is assigned those officers.

"I heard a loud noise". "I'm not a Republican and I've had all kinds of threats against me and my family". In the wake of an attack on one of their own, Republican, Democrat and Independent lawmakers converged at the site of many contentious battles of late in a vow of unity and a plea to work together for the common good. "Now more than ever we have to put aside our differences in unite against cowardly violence".

Before becoming majority whip, Scalise was chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, which includes more than 170 conservative lawmakers.

Trump described Scalise as a "patriot and a fighter". "Pray for Steve!" Trump wrote.