Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana was in "critical" condition Wednesday night after sustaining a gunshot wound to the left hip when a gunman opened fire on Congress members and staff attending baseball practice earlier in the day.
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Congressman in critical condition after being shot during baseball practice
"He underwent immediate surgery, and an additional procedure to stop bleeding."
A statement from MedStar Washington Hospital Center released late Wednesday said the bullet that hit Scalise "travelled across his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring internal organs, and causing severe bleeding."
"He underwent immediate surgery, and an additional procedure to stop bleeding," the statement read.
The hospital also said Scalise had received "multiple units of blood transfusion," and said Scalise would require additional operations.
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Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the US House of Representatives, was among four people shot as Republican lawmakers practiced for a charity baseball game in Alexandria, Virginia. Scalise was reported to have been tended to by Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, a US Army doctor, prior to his treatment at the hospital.
"You never expect a baseball field in America to feel like being back in a combat zone in Iraq, but this morning it did," said Wenstrup in an interview. "Capitol police and emergency responders reacted swiftly and courageously — we are grateful for their presence."
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited the hospital where Scalise was being treated Wednesday evening.
"Many lives would have been lost without the heroic actions of the two Capitol Police officers who took down the gunman despite sustaining gunshot wounds during a very, very brutal assault," said Trump earlier in the day. "[Scalise] is a patriot and he's a fighter. He will recover from this assault."
The gunman, 66-year-old James Hodgkinson from Belleville, Illinois, was killed in a gunfight with Capitol Hill police officers during the attack. According to his social-media profile and other reports, he expressed broad dissent against Trump and Republican policies.
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