The man who shot House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and three other people as they practiced for an annual congressional charity baseball game had been spotted casing the Alexandria field where the attack took place for months, a new report from the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Alexandria reveals.
James Hodgkinson, 66, had been spotted by neighbors as he watched the field for months, and had cellphone video of the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, the report stated. Further, he had cellphone video of the practice field itself dated back to April, nearly two months before the attack occurred.
The report also noted that a member of the GOP's baseball team, with whom Scalise, R-Louisiana was practicing, saw Hodgkinson sitting alone in the field's bleachers, watching the practice game.
According to the report, Hodgkinson fired at least 70 rounds, mainly with an assault rifle, at the people on the field and was wounded by return fire from Capitol Police officers at the scene to provide security for Scalise, as House Majority Whip.
The investigation report also cleared law enforcement officers at the scene for any suspicion of wrongdoing in the use of deadly force against Hodgkinson.
The report also revealed that the shooter legally purchased the semi-automatic assault rifle used in the incident from a licensed firearms dealer in Illinois on March 9, 2003, and bought the semi-automatic pistol he used from a different dealer in Illinois November 2016.
"There was nothing in his background that would have legally prevented these sales and no evidence that the firearms dealers did anything illegal in selling the firearms to Hodgkinson," the report said.
Scalise returned to Capitol Hill last week after undergoing several surgeries and rehabilitation for his injuries.
However, reports The Hill, Scalise asked House members not to make the country's political divisions "personal."
“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.
According to the report, Hodgkinson had been a strong supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and was deeply disappointed about how the race turned out. People who knew him called him "hot-tempered" but did not think he was violent.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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