GOP's Scalise Upgraded to Serious Condition After More Surgery

The other congress members present credit Mr Scalise's security guards - members of the Capitol Police - with saving their lives.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File).

U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise speaks to the media after a meeting at Trump Tower on December 12, 2016, in New York City. Scalise was shot Wednesday, June 14, 2017, at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, .

Hodgkinson was fatally shot during an exchange of gunfire with police during the rampage.

Steve Scalise was upgraded from "critical" to "serious condition" Saturday and continued to show signs of improvement after he was wounded in a shooting at a Republican baseball practice outside Washington.

Sava declined to put a timeline on when that might happen or when Scalise, 51, will be able to leave the hospital.

Doctor Sava described Scalise's shot to his left hip as a devastating "trans-pelvic gunshot wound" from a high-velocity rifle.

Scalise, the No. 3 House Republican, arrived at the hospital via helicopter in shock, with intense internal bleeding and "an imminent risk of death", Sava said.

On Wednesday, he underwent immediate surgery after the incident and then an additional procedure to stop bleeding. He has been sedated, but has been brought out of sedation periodically and been able to recognize and communicate with his family, Sava said.

James T. Hodgkinson, 66, allegedly opened fire on a Congressional baseball team as Republicans were practicing for an annual game to be played at Nationals Park Thursday.

Because the bullet shattered, there may be hundreds of fragments in Scalise's body and doctors do not intend to try to remove them all, Sava said.

If Scalise did not suffer nerve damage and his recovery continues without any complications, "it is possible that within three months or so, he can.be back on his feet", said Dr. Alex Jahangir, an orthopedic trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who was not involved in Scalise's care.

Once recovered, Scalise will be able to walk and hopefully run, the doctor said. "After discharge he will need a period of healing and rehabilitation".

"I feel a lot more optimistic than I did two or three days ago".

"His risk of death right now is substantially lower than when he came in". Scalise will undergo more operations.

Sava said he told Scalise's family: "I am not declaring victory until he's playing ball in his backyard with his family".

Hodgkinson had a history of posting angry messages against Trump and other Republicans on social media.

Speaking earlier Friday in Miami, Trump said Scalise "took a bullet for all of us" when he was shot. Brooks said the list was short and the other names he was told of were also GOP congressmen.