UNITED STATES – JUNE 2: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., speaks to the media following the House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. (Photo: AP)
House House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., “remains in critical condition” after he was shot Wednesday morning at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park. MedStar Washington Hospital Center said in a statement updating his status that the other patient “is in good condition.”
After receiving several blood transfusions to combat blood loss as a result of a gun shot wound to his hip area, doctors are reportedly having trouble controlling post-trauma bleeding.
UPDATE:
“Congressman Steve Scalise sustained a single rifle shot to the left hip. The bullet travelled across his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring internal organs, and causing severe bleeding,” MedStar Washington Hospital Center said in an update. “He was transported in shock to MedStar Washington Hospital Center, a Level I Trauma Center. He underwent immediate surgery, and an additional procedure to stop bleeding. He has received multiple units of blood transfusion. His condition is critical, and he will require additional operations. We will provide periodic updates.”
ORIGINAL CONTINUED:
“Rep. Scalise was critically injured and remains in critical condition,” MedStar Washington Hospital Center said in an update. “The other patient is in good condition.”
Prior to entering surgery, Rep. Scalise, 51, “was in good spirits and spoke to his wife by phone,” according to a statement from his office.
“We ask that you keep the Whip and others harmed in this incident in your thoughts and prayers,” the statement added.
James Hodgkinson, 66, a leftwing activist and supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has been identified as the man who shot the House Whip, his aide and at least 2 others. Sen. Sanders confirmed he had worked on his campaign and said he was “sickened” by the action, but then added “real change can only come about through nonviolent action.”
He opened fire on Republican members of Congress Wednesday morning as they practiced for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia. It’s located roughly 10 miles from Washington D.C.
“We were like sitting ducks,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said. “Without the Capitol Hill police it would have been a massacre.”
Sen. Paul, who along with others credited Rep. Scalise’s security detail as the reason mass casualties were avoided, described the scene as “sort of a killing field.”
Hodgkinson, of downstate Belleville, Illinois, had reportedly been living with his wife in Virginia for the past two weeks. His social media page was riddled with Trump-hating posts showing he was duped by the Democrat- and media-fueled conspiracy theory that President Donald J. Trump “colluded” with Russian officials to influence the 2016 presidential election.
That charge has now been thoroughly been debunked on a bipartisan basis by the Senate Intelligence Committee, and even by fired former FBI director James Comey.
Offering prayers for the all of the victims’ “swift recovery,” President Trump praised the “heroism” of Capitol Police officers during the attack.
“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,” President Trump said. “America is praying for you,” he said of Rep. Scalise, “and America is praying for all of the victims of this terrible shooting.”
President Trump canceled public events on Wednesday after the shooting. The legislative schedule in Congress has been cancelled for the day. But the annual Congressional Baseball Game, which raises money for charity, will still be held on Thursday.
