On Wednesday at a congressional baseball practice in Virginia, a gunman opened fire on lawmakers who had taken to the field.
James T. Hodgkinson, 66, of Illinois arrived at the baseball practice armed with a weapon. He began shooting at lawmakers and police officers attending the event.
“First thing, I’m playing third, I’m standing there waiting for the pitcher to pitch to the batter. I’m paying attention and all of a sudden I hear a gunshot, to which I immediately go, that is a gunshot,” said Mississippi Representative Trent Kelly who was on the field that day.
Kelly said that’s when his military training kicked in. He guessed he was about 20 to 30 feet away from the shooter when he took off.
“With a near ambush you don’t get down, you get the heck out of the kill zone, ” said Kelly.
Kelly said he started running in a zig-zag to get out of the way and by the time he got between the pitchers’ mound and second base he heard the third shot and saw the House Majority Whip, Steve Scalise. Scalise was shot and taken to the hospital, where he is said to be in stable condition.
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Kelly ran through the gate and to the backside of the dugout. He said he believes the first few shots were aimed at him, just because he was the closest to the shooter.
“At some point, the Alexandria police showed up and I retreated to a concession stand until he was subdued. Then I called my folks and I said, just wanted to let y’all know I was okay,” said Kelly.
The gunman was shot and later died at the hospital.
The congressional baseball game is still scheduled for Thursday at 7:05 p.m. You can watch all the action on C-Span. The game has now become a charity event to benefit the Washington Literacy Center, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, according to Fox News.
To listen to the full interview with Rep. Kelly see below:
