Ron DeSantis says he believes he was approached by the gunman while leaving the practice.
"The man who tried to kill congressmen practicing for a charity baseball game had asked whether the players were Repubs or Dems". "The kind of guy who could disappear in the crowd".
"It was just a little odd", DeSantis said. When told they were Repubs, the shooter returned a few moments later and opened fire with a rifle.
The shooter was identified as James T. Hodgkinson of IL. He described the man to CNN as someone in his late 50s or early 60s, with dark hair that possibly contained some gray.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that a shooting took place in Northern Virginia during a Republican baseball practice.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it is not uncommon for temperatures to flare at his town halls back home but that he has never felt unsafe. "It's a community field with picnic benches similar to what you might find in Florida". DeSantis played on a Florida team in the Little League World Series and at Yale.
Once the suspects profile was revealed he and Duncan both agreed "that was him".
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After speaking with the man, Duncan and DeSantis left Alexandria and headed to Capitol Hill in the same auto.
Rep. DeSantis who at baseball practice recalls: "A guy...walked up to us that was asking whether it was Republicans or Democrats out there".
DeSantis said he didn't realize the connection until later, when heard the news of the shooting, and alerted the police.
"Thankfully we had law enforcement on the scene able to stop this because we didn't have a CWP (concealed weapons permit), and if nobody was there to stop it, it would have been three minutes of active shooting at Congress today, and that's alarming", he said.
The hospital treating Scalise tweeted on 14 June that he was in critical condition.
Had Scalise not been there, the officers wouldn't have either, and "I think we would have seen a major massacre", DeSantis said. "Cindy's and my thoughts and prayers are with Whip Scalise, the staff, the Capitol Police officers, and the family and friends of those hurt".
DeSantis, a military veteran, said that experience helped him take notice of the man who approached his auto asking about political affiliation. "If you were to run out there while the shooter was still shooting, he would have shot anybody", he said. "We obviously were just trying to beat some traffic, never thought that you'd ever have any incident like this, but had we just chose to stay a little longer, I mean who knows what would have happened. Obviously, if it was a political motivation, it ups the stakes". News 6 asked DeSantis if he thinks they should. Jeff Duncan, who I ride with, from SC, he had done. President Donald Trump announced that the suspect had died. It may have been random.
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