A gunman opened fire at U.S. Republican politicians playing baseball in a Washington suburb, wounding a senior U.S. congressman and three other other people, officials and news reports said.
Steve Scalise, a congressman from Louisiana who is the majority whip -- the third most senior Republican member of the House of Representatives -- was shot in the hip, Republican lawmaker Mo Brooks told CNN, adding that at least two law-enforcement officers and a congressional staffer were also shot in the June 14 attack in Alexandria, Virginia.
"People know this is the Republican baseball team practicing," Brooks told CNN by phone. "You can tell. You can recognize many of us. You can see our security detail."
Republican Senator Jeff Flake told reporters at the scene that some 25 senators and congressmen were at the practice when about 50 shots rang out as the gunman and the lawmakers' security detail exchanged fire at around 6:30 a.m. local time.
Flake said the suspect was a white man with dark hair, apparently in his 40s or 50s, wearing jeans and a blue shirt, while Brooks added that there appeared to have been only one attacker.
Chief Michael Brown told reporters that Alexandria police responded within three minutes of being called and that the suspect was in custody after being wounded in the gun battle. In total, five people were wounded and are now in hospital, Brown said.
He refused to give the names of those who were wounded, but a congressional aide said that Scalise was in stable condition at George Washington University Hospital. MSNBC TV reported that two Capitol Hill police officers who were shot also appeared to be in stable condition.
President Donald Trump said that he and Vice President Mike Pence "are aware of the shooting incident in Virginia and are monitoring developments closely."
"Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a true friend and patriot, was badly injured but will fully recover. Our thoughts and prayers are with him," Trump tweeted.
