Congressional baseball shooter surveilled field for months: report

The shooter who injured House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and three others at a congressional baseball practice in June apparently surveyed the baseball field for months before the shooting, according to a new report.

The report by the commonwealth’s attorney for the city of Alexandria found that James Hodgkinson, the 66-year-old shooter, had cellphone video from April of the practice field where the shooting occurred, and had been spotted by neighbors “casing” the area for months.

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One member of the GOP’s baseball team also saw Hodgkinson sitting alone in the stands watching the game the morning before the shooting occurred.

During the attack, Hodgkinson fired at least 70 rounds, most of them from an assault rifle, the report says. He was wounded by return fire from U.S. Capitol Police officers, and died at George Washington University Hospital from his injuries.

The attack seriously injured Scalise, who returned to Capitol Hill on Sept. 28 after months of surgeries and rehabilitation. The bullet shattered Scalise’s femur and caused extensive blood loss.

In his first remarks to the House after returning to Washington, the Louisiana Republican implored his colleagues not to make America’s political divisions “personal.”

“You have no idea how great this feels to be back here at work in the people’s House,” Scalise said on the day of his return. “It’s so important that as we’re having those political battles, we don’t make them personal,” he added.

“While some people might focus on a tragic event and an evil act, to me, all I remember are the thousands of acts of kindness and love and warmth that came out of this and kept me going through all of it,” Scalise said.

Scalise, who is still undergoing rehabilitation, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ first playoff game on Friday night against the Chicago Cubs.