Congressional women's team hits practice field

A government official identified the shooter as an IL man named James.

Police identified James T. Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Ill., as the shooter who opened fire on congressional Republicans practicing baseball in Alexandria, Va. President Donald Trump announced Hodgkinson died of a gunshot wound.

The FBI said authorities are speaking with people who knew Hodgkinson or who may have encountered him.

The young woman's boyfriend later confronted Hodgkinson, and Hodgkinson pulled out his shotgun, hit the younger man in the face with the wooden stock of the gun, then fired a single shot that missed.

Two days later, neighbors called police to say Hodgkinson had fired off 50 shots into the air. He was listed in critical condition Wednesday night at a Washington hospital, which said he will require several more operations.

Stocky, with graying hair and a well-trimmed mustache-goatee combination, Hodgkinson was a strong critic of Trump's administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.

Wednesday's shooting took place just after 7:00 am (1100 GMT) as the Republican team practiced for the charity showdown. The Washington Post quoted an acquaintance of Hodgkinson as saying they met campaigning for Sanders. He is a member of Facebook groups including "Liberal Democratic Socialist Party", "I Hate Donald Trump", and "Terminate The Republican Party".

A portrait of Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont and the first Jewish candidate to win major nominating contests in a presidential primary season when he vied a year ago for the Democratic presidential nod, is the background photo on Hodgkinson's Facebook page.

Shortly after the shooting, Bernie Sanders, the former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said on the Senate floor that the shooter apparently was a volunteer for his campaign previous year.

"I am sickened by this act", Sanders said.

"Let me be as clear as I can be". The Vermont senator assailed violence as "unacceptable in our society".

IL business records show that the suspect owned JTH Inspections, which he claimed to have operated for more than 30 years. Laid back, rough around the edges.

Hodgkinson built a life in Bellville, a suburb of St. Louis, with a modest business, a wife and a succession of foster children.

He added: "I knew he was a Democrat, a pretty hardcore one". "It just took me by surprise when I saw it on the news today that he did what he did". He has DUI, resisting arrest and fleeing charges from January 7, 1993, that were dismissed after court supervision.

In a brief interview in a Senate hallway, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "I think everybody handled it well and things seem to be under control".

Alexandria police chief Michael Brown said his officers arrived within minutes and engaged Hodgkinson, together with Capitol Police officers.

Brennwald thought it was odd that Hodgkinson was never exercising or wearing workout clothes.

"This one never crossed the line, but he was always angry", he said.

Police believe that Hodgkinson opened fire on Republican lawmakers at a congressional baseball practice Wednesday, June 14, 2017 in Alexandria.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Tim Slater told a news conference that investigators were still "exploring all angles" and that it was too early to tell if the Republican lawmakers were deliberately targeted.

Hodgkinson had been licensed as a home inspector and real estate appraiser but did not renew his home inspector licence after it expired in 2016.

The former mayor of Alexandria, Bill Euille, said he talked with the suspect at the local YMCA most mornings for more than a month, and even tried to help find Hodgkinson a job after seeing he was living out of a gym bag, the Washington Post said.

Williams suffered a sprained ankle, according to multiple reports, and a second Capitol Police officer - David Bailey - was treated for "minor injuries" and released from the hospital. At the time of the shooting Scalise, the third highest-ranking member of the House of Representatives, was being protected by Capitol Police security detail.