Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis was at the plate on a Virginia baseball field Wednesday morning when a rifle-wielding gunman approached the field and started firing.
Recapping the shooting just hours after it happened, Davis said he dove into a nearby dugout and then escaped unharmed to a nearby apartment complex. As he ran to safety, Davis saw Majority Whip Steve Scalise lying on the field, bleeding.
“Never thought I’d go to baseball practice and have to dodge bullets,” Davis said in a call with reporters Wednesday afternoon. “But I did today and we’re gonna be a better country once we learn to fix this problem.”
Congressional police shot and killed 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson III of Belleville after he opened fire on Republican members and their staff Wednesday morning in a Virginia park, wounding five, including Scalise, of Louisiana. Scalise underwent emergency surgery at a nearby hospital and was listed in critical condition Wednesday afternoon.
Hodgkinson was a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and called for his impeachment in a recent Facebook posting. In March, he posted an anti-Trump message that says, “Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.” It included a link to a petition seeking the impeachment of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Hodgkinson also campaigned for Bernie Sanders during his run for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President last year. Sanders condemned the shooting after learning the suspect was a former campaign worker.
Davis also condemned the shooting and said the country needs to unite together against hate speech and violent political rhetoric.
“Today’s got to be the day that we stand together, and each one of you in the media plays a role in this, to stop this hateful political rhetoric that has led now to violence,” Davis said.
Davis had only a few words for the shooter.
“The madman’s dead,” he said. “There’s a warm place in hell for somebody like that.”
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, wasn’t there but is happy to hear all five who were shot are reportedly on the mend.
“It’s a crisis for them right now and you’ve got to to be thinking about them,” he said, calling the shooting the actions of a coward.
“This was an unprovoked assault on members playing America’s pastime,” Shimkus said.
As of Wednesday, the Congressional baseball charity game is still scheduled for Thursday. Donations can be made at www.congressionalbaseball.org
[The above story is from Illinois Radio Network News.]
