and alexandria county and alexandria city and capitol police as well. i want to turn it over to the governor for a second. governor mcauliffe: i want to say our thoughts and prayers are with everybody. i want to congratulate the effort of the state, local and federal. we're all here together. early this morning police -- i want to thank everybody's involvement. i specifically want to thank the first responders. i have been told that members of the neighborhood and the community gave assistance. this is truly an extraordinary effort. and i also want to compliment the u.s. capitol police for their quick action and through their heroic efforts and others they saved a lot of lives today. we do everything we can to keep our community safe. i once again want to thank all law enforcement personnel and first responders who were involved today. thank you. reporter: are you feeling at this point this was -- what do you see, number one, a deliberate planned attack? and are you investigating this now on the basis it could be an act of terrorism? >> ma'am, it's too

brown for alexandria police department.ing the area out here doing door to door with our colleagues from the sheriffly departmen and the fire department so we can reassure people in the community that we believe this incident today is over. although the investigation will continue in this area for awhile. we're also working with some of our other departments in at the city, for example, the department of community and health services to make services that are generally available for these kinds of situations available to our communityve we care very much about our residents and the people that come to visit us in the city. and we're doing everything we can to reassure them this is a safe community and your government and your public safety personnel care deeply about it. that said, you'll see a lot of law enforcement and fire personnel working this area trying to reassure them of such. i thank you for that and as a part of the department, we will continue to work with the fbi as they move forward on their investigation. tha

alexandria police on the scene in just minutes. they also fired on the gunman james hodgkinson. >> i was not only chaotic but it was a combat situation and that's something that law enforcement is trained to do. >> ror conclusion, they believe this was a targeted attack aimed at this nation's political leaders. that's the sense jeff duncan had too. he had been practicing at the field earlier and was gone by the time the shots were fired but he remembers talking to a man he believes is the shooter right before he left. >> i know what he asked me, i know how i answered, i know what happened and i'm going to take it that he was targeting republicans this morning by shooting republican baseball team on the field. >> reporter: now you heard one of those witnesses mention a rifle. police just confirming here that the gunman had two weapons, a rifle and a handgun and of course they want to track where those came from. his name blasted all over this poster, but as the fbi agent in charge spoke to reporters here today, he said james hodgkin

alexandria police on the scene in just minutes. they also fired on the gunman, james hodgkinson. >> the officers were received fire from a suspect and they returned fire and that impart of the investigation is ongoing. >> this man was working out inside the y. >> he was crouched behind a wooden structure, exchanging fire with what i believe to be police officers who were hiding behind a black suv. >> reporter: witnesses and neighbors all reaching the same conclusion, they believe this was a targeted attack aimed at this nation's political leaders. and a thought from one of the eyewitnesses i spoke to today, he called 911 after he saw this unfold and ducked for cover. this wasn't an attack on members of congress. he believes it was an attack on america. again, we'll be standing by for this updated briefing at 5:30 and bring it to you live. back to you in the studio. >> all right. >>> who was that gunman, james hodgkinson? well, he lived in illinois but he had apparently been spending a good deal of time in our area and doing it rece

county and alexandria city. and capitol police as well. i will take a couple questions in just a second but i want to turn it over to the governor for a couple of comments. >> thank you. first of all, thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by today's incident. thent to congratulate effort of state, local, and federal. we are all here together. police activated. i want to thank everyone involved and specifically all the first responders. i have been told members of the neighborhood and the community came out to be of assistance. it is truly an extraordinary effort. i also want to comment the u.s. capitol police for quick action and through their heroic act -- efforts, they saved a lot of lives today. keep everything we can to lives safe to allow want to thank all the first responders involved today. thank you. >> can you step to the microphone? point, what you see, number one, a deliberate attack, and now, on the basis that it could be an act of terrorism by an individual? >> it is too early to say. momenteall

i would like to thank the alexandria police department, u.s. capitol police, and medical response teams who responded to the scene this morning for their quick and decisive actions. actually saving lives. i remind you that this is an active investigation and details continue to unfold. i stressed this earlier and i'm going to underscore it now. that the f.b.i. is not going to talk about the character or nature in which we are investigating this case other than to say we continue to work this as an active investigation and an ongoing matter. there has been some confusion about the injuries involved. our statements sent out earlier today, this afternoon actually, identified the number of victims and their injuries. let me just review that quickly for you. five individuals were shot. a congressman, a united states capitol police officer, a congressional staffer, a lobbyist and the subject. an additional two individuals, a congressman and a capitol police officer, attained secondary injuries at the scene and were transported to local hospitals and

we had individuals from the alexandria sheriff's office, the alexandria fire department whose initial response helped us a great deal and i couldn't be more proud of the men and women involved from the alexandria police department. they did an outstanding job in my opinion from what i've heard. i would like to introduce the chief from the capitol police to come up and talk about their efforts in theis area and what they're doing. chief? >> thank you, chief. i would like to first start out by thanking the alexandria police, sheriff's office, fire department, the fbi, atf and all of our if federal law enforcement local partners who assisted in this response. certainly it's a very large response. it's going to take a while to sort through all of the details. my units of our dig that tear protection service was on site when we had -- when the incident occurred. they did engage in gun fire with the suspect and were assisted by the alexandria police. the officers, the united states capitol police officers who were injured are in good condition and have not suffered in life-threatening injur

but no one was expecting a shooting in alexandria. so routine business here on capitol hill as best as you can with a shooting in alexandria. i'm tom sherwood. back to you guys. >> tom sherwood out on capitol hill for us, thank you for that reporting. again, as we approach the noon hour and await this news conference, house members having been briefed on what has happened this morning involving the house majority whip and now learning, i would imagine, too, a little more about what security protocol might be changing as a result of what has happened this morning. capitol police having a presence or at least a conversation with the sergeant of arms about what has unfolded. >> members of congress, i'm told, are talking to their back about what happened today. there were 18 staffers. the majority of them here in washington, d.c., working at the capitol in the office buildings and some number back home at the district. you have to secure both spaces. there are capitol police officers and back home you're in a strip mall. you're in a rente

we will -- i want to thank the alexandria police, sheriff's offers and the alexandria fire department for their rapid response to the request for assist. rapid response and certainly save lives. >> at this point, we are going to gather the investigators together, and look at what we have, and put this incident together, again, it is very early on, and there is a lot of witnesses to be interviewed, once we have more information, we will certainly pason whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need. >> chief ... >> i'm going to turn it back over to the alexandria chief. thank you, chief. >> folks, we won't answer any questions at this point because it as he pointed thought is an active ongoing investigation, we call the shrine screen hot, because we are collecting information and evidence it, would be premature for us to respond any further. in a hour and a half we will come back together and give awe update to what we can speak to and perhaps give you answers to some questions. >> chief, any indication of ongoing shooting? any other shooters out there?

it's mike brown, chief of the alexandria police department. mr. brown: i just wanted to get back and give a status as to what we're doing in this community to try and reassure the community in terms of the safety and the security of our residents. right now we are canvasing the immediate area out here, doing door to door with our colleagues from the sheriff's department and the fire department. so that we can reassure people in the community that we believe this incident today is over. although the investigation will continue in this area for a while. we are also working with some of our other departments in the city. for example, with the department of community and health services, to make services that are general jy available for these -- generally available for these kind of situations available to our community over the next couple of days. we care very much about our residents and the people that come to visit us in this city. and we're doing everything we can to reassure them that this is a safe community and that your government and your

. >> i'm mike brown, chief of the alexandria police department. that's b-r-o-w-n. >> come to the microphone, please. thank you. >> we are here to give you an update on the incident that occurred this morning here in alexandria. let me repeat, if i can, some of the facts that we do know at this point. before i start, though, i want to say that this incident is not an active incident. the city is safe. we have an active investigation going on for the incident that took place this morning, but i want to reassure the community here in alexandria that this city is indeed safe. we will continue to work with

we will -- i want to thank the alexandria police, the sheriff's office, and the alexandria fire department for their rapid response to the request for assistance and the 911 calls. appreciate their rapid response and certainly it saved lives. at this point, we're going to gather the investigators together and look at what we have and put this incident together. again, it's very early on. and there's a lot of witnesses to be interviewed. once we have more information, we will certainly pass on whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need for your work. thank you very much. i'm going to turn it back over to the alexandria chief. >> thank you, chief. we're not going to -- folks, we're not going to answer any questions at this point because as the chief pointed out, this is an active, ongoing investigation. we call the crime scene hot because we're collecting information and evidence and it would be premature for us to respond any further. in an hour and a half, we will come back together and give you an update on what we can speak to and perhaps answer some

we will -- i want to thank the alexandria police, the sheriff's office and the alexandria fire department for their rapid response to the request for assistance in the 911 calls. i appreciate their rapid response and certainly it saved lives. >> one shooter >> at this point, we're going to gather the investigators together and look at what we have and put this incident together again, it's very early on, there are a lot of witnesses to be interviewed. once we have more information we will certainly pass on whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need for your work. >> chief -- >> thank you very much i'm going to turn it -- i'm going to turn it back over to the alexandria chief. >> thank you, chief. we're not not -- folk, we're not going to answer any questions at this point, because as the chief pointed out this is an active, ongoing investigation. we call the crime scene hot because we're collecting information and evidence and it would be premature for us to respond any further in an hour and a half we'll come back together and give you an update on wh

police, alexandria police were here.re here and that continues at this hour as we go through the day. we do know that one other person was brought here to med star, their condition is listed as good right now but the identity of that person has not yet been released. we will have more details that's become available tonight. back to you. >> thank you. now we're keeping a close eye as fbi investigators search what appears to be the vehicle of the suspect that is happening live right there. we're told the man may have been living out of this van for months and they're going through all of his items piece by piece. he was killed this morning when police say he opened fired as a baseball park this morning. four people were hurt there, a congressman >>> i'm tom sherwood on capitol hill. a daily routine for congress disrupted for both members and their visiting constituen ♪ creating jobs foreaner, reliour veterans... helping those in need save money on their energy bills. it takes 16,000 dominion energy employees doing the job

down here to the southeast would be old town alexandria. the shots first rang out behind the 3rd base dugout. that will be right here. just beyond that, this is the ymca that was hit by some of that gunfire. now, senator jeff flake who was there at the practice said he heard the shots, saw the shooter behind the 3rd base dugout and behind the fence. the shooter never made it out on to the field. who was on the field? representative steve scalise, the majority whip. he was actually right here and then crawled into the outfield. center flake said leaving a trail of blood, crawling into the outfield before they were able to rush out and render aid after the shooter had been neutralized. >> reporter: let's go to a news conference with the fbi. >> actually saving lives. i remind you this is an active investigation and details continue to unfold. i stressed this earlier and i'm going to underscore it now. that the fbi is not going to talk about the character or nature in which we are investigating this case. other than to say we continue to work

host: we are about 15 minutes away from an update from the alexandria police department. in the meantime, here's an update from bill. bill: we are getting scheduling information, john. there's a briefing coming up in the capitol. here is washington from "the washington post" tweeting, house members have been summoned to an 11:15 briefing about the shooting at the capitol's visitor center. he talked to karen traverse of abc news. president trump cancelled his 3:30 speech at the labor department this afternoon. the first lady melania trump tweeting thank you to the first responders who rushed in to protect those who were hurt in alexandria, virginia. my thoughts and prayers to everyone. and a statement just released from the democratic leader, nancy pelosi on today's shooting. she says this morning the u.s. congress suffered a despicable and cowardly attack. my thoughts and prayers are with whip steve scalise and those wounded, capitol police and staff and their families. we're profoundly grateful for the heroism of the capitol police whose bravery under fire undoubtedly sa

he's live from simpson ballfield in alexandria where this unfolded. tom, this was a stunning attack in the quiet neighborhood of dell ray. walk us through what happened. >> reporter: out of the blue, this morning, tony at about seven minutes after 7:00, congressional members that were taking part in the republican team for the congressional ballgame scheduled for tomorrow night at nates park were in the middle of practice. senator jeff flake telling us that he had just come from batting, turned around and heard somebody yell gun. he and others then dove for cover. "eyewitness news"s telling gun battle went on between capitol police and the subject, james hodgkinson for at least ten minutes. some people reporting hearing as many as 100 shots fired. the fbi tonight relating not only the image of their suspect, james hodgkinson who was shot and killed here today, but as well as asking for information, just about 30 minutes ago, the fbi special agent in charge of the washington field office, special agent tim slater held a news briefing today. he would no

we had individuals from the alexandria sheriff's department, of course, the alexandria fire department whose initial response helped us a great deal in trying to manage this thing, and quite frankly i couldn't be more proud of the men and women, they did an outstanding job from what i hear so far. at this point i would introduce chief rosa to talk about their efforts in this area and what they're doing. chief? >> thank you, chief. i would like to, of course, start out by thanking the alexandria police, sheriff's office, fire department, the fbi, atf and all of our federal law enforcement and local partners who assisted in this response and it's a very large response ask it will take a while to sort through all of the details. my units of our dignitary protection division were on site with the congressional protectee when the incident occurred. they did engage in gun fire with the suspect and were assisted by the alexandria police. the united states capitol police officers who were injured are in good condition and have not suffered any life-threatening injuries at this point. as we get

we will -- i want to thank the alexandria police, the sheriff's office and the alexandria fire department for their rapid response to the request for assistance and the 911 calls. i appreciate their rapid response and certainly it saves lives. >> was there one shooter? >> at this point we're going to gather the investigators together and look at what we have and put this incident together. again, it's very early on and there's a lot of witnesses to be interviewed. once we have more information, we will certainly pass on whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need for your work. thank you very much. i'm going to turn it -- i'm going to turn it back over to the alexandria chief. >> thank you, chief. we're not going -- folks, we're not going to answer any questions at this point because as the chief pointed out, this is an active, ongoing investigation. we call it crime scene hot because we're collecting information and evidence. it would be premature for us to respond any further. in an hour and a half, we will come back together and give you an update on

we will -- i want to thank the alexandria police, the sheriff's office, and the alexandria fire departmentor their rapid response to the request for assistance and the 911 calls. appreciate their rapid response and certainly it saved lives. at this point, we're going to gather the investigators together and look at what we have and put this incident together. again, it's very early on. and there's a lot of witnesses to be interviewed. once we have more information, we will certainly pass on whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need for your work. thank you very much. i'm going to turn it back over to the alexandria ch

. ♪ ♪ alexandria.s church is less than a mile away from where the shots were fired in del ray yesterday morning. the pastor told us the focus of the service was from psalms 120, i am for peace but they are from war. there was another gathering at nearby middle school. as they try to rebound from this horrible act, the investigation into why this happened is in full swing. >> federal agents are interviewing witnesses and reviewing videos of the shooting like this one. >> that's terrifying to listen to. this is the scene almost 24 hours ago. dozens of shots turned simpson baseball field into a battlefield. the congressional baseball game that those members were practicing for will, in fact, go on tonight at nats park. meanwhile, the fed james hodgkinson's steps through the area. justin finch has more on how you can help the fbi in this case. justin? >> reporter: hey there, erika. good morning. the fbi is hoping more people take a look at this photo we're about to show you here in hopes that they may reco

i'm live in alexandria, where this played out. when it was over, five people were left wounded on this baseball field. among them, the majority whip, steve scalise, who was shot while plank second base during batting practice. wo capitol police officers, a congressional aide come and a lobbyist. scalise and lobbyist are the worst off right now. scalise has undergone at least two surgeries. death, an was shot to 66-year-old shot to death by the capitol police officers who were on the security detail of the majority whip. tim barber the hometown of the shooter in illinois, but we start team coverage with tom roussey medstar washington, where the congressman is being treated. understand that he has received several pints of blood as well. still in critical condition. tom: that is the latest information we have heard from the hospital. he underwent one surgery immediately when he got here this morning. he will need more. whoot a visit from the man holds the highest office in the land earlier tonight. this is video of president trump a

simpson field in alexandria is an active investigation site.arry: sam sweeney has been .eporting that angle people yesterday came out in droves to show their solidarity with the victims. people and this del ray community pride themselves on the community that they live in and that they know their neighbors and that they do neighborhood picnics and barbecues. the kids play at the park by themselves. they really don't have worries here but yesterday, that all changed. 10 minutes of bullets, more than 50 of them. bullets rang out in this ball field where children normally play. last night, they came out to show their resilience. we did catch up with a couple of them and let's listen to what they had to say shooting. >> we can gather and show people that we will not fall for hate or ignorance. we are celebrating life and we are going to pray and come together tonight. morning, so many people who live in this community have questions -- why did this man come here to this part of alexandria? was this the plan all along? who is he? we look into his ba

it shocked people in the community of alexandria. neighborhood bar employee said he came in often talked about golf and real estate but not politics or guns. former alexandria mayor bill yule said he would see him often at the ymca working on his laptop and heard that he was actually at the ymca wednesday morning but left shortly before the shooting. also want to let you know today that the fbi is still looking for information on james hodgkinson. they've put out a flier, it looks like a wanted poster but it really is that they're wanting information on him and telling everyone if they know this guy, have had any contact with him, either here in alexandria or really anywhere around the country to please contact the fbi washito fbi office. live in alexandria, i'm melanie alnwick, fox5 local news. >> thanks, mel. >>> meanwhile capitol police are investigating a threatening e-mail sent to gop congresswoman claudia tenney from new york shortly after yesterday's shooting. she says the e-mail said "one down, 216 to go." while there are 238

chip reid is in alexandria. nancy cordes is at the capitol. we'll begin with chip. >> reporter: well, scott, we may be just outside of washington, d.c., but people who live in this neighborhood call it small town, u.s.a. you can see a playground behind me. at 7:00 a.m., there were parents and their children playing in this playground. over here you can see a baseball field. and there was a relaxed and jovial practice going on there by the republican members of the house of representatives when suddenly shots rang out. steve scalise, a congressman from louisiana, who is the third ranking republican in the house, was standing by second base. he suddenly went down, shot in the hip. he tried to crawl into the outfield to get away from the shooting. he left a trail of blood behind him. the assailant had a long gun, a rifle. he also had a handgun. many of the members ran for safety enter the first base dugout. the assailant was firing from nearby the third base dugout. when they got there, they said, "why did we do this? "we're now sitting ducks." o

also t rid alexandria police.shocking episode, but there were warnings a couple weeks ago. the u.s. sergeant of arms asking that the congressional security apparatus spe more money, set aside more money or spend more energy helping to protect members of congress and their staffers when they're off sight, outside the congressional capitol shield. >> an automatic shotgun, or there would be a fraction of a second between shots. it seemed to me to be the kind of gun that would fire when you pull the trigger as opposed to keeping the trigger down. he was aiming. there was a litt b of time between shots to aim. sometimes the distance would be fractions of a second. sometimes it would a second, two or do we know how critical? it was long enough for me to see the shooter di charge the first half dozen or so shots. figure out that i was in clear sight if he shifted his view a little bit to th right. i would be the next closest to him to dive around the batting cage and land on my belly with my batting helmet and bat in han

that is the field -- alexandria, virginia. that is a field that the republican supple team has used for years -- softball team has used for years to prepare for the congressional softball game that raises money for a good cause. we are getting your reaction this morning after that shooting. we also want to bring in a senior staff writer rum the hill newspaper to give us the facts of this morning. walk us through them right now. >> thank you for having me. know steve scalise of louisiana was shot and injured in a shooting that took place at this congressional baseball practice this morning in alexandria, virginia just outside of washington, d.c. they were gearing up for a congressional charity game, a bipartisan game. it is one of those rare type partisan events that members of congress participate in every year. it was slated to take place on thursday at nationals' park. it is unclear now if the game will move forward. more important, steve scalise has been elected to a local hospital in alexandria, virginia. there were other

we are live in alexandria, virginia. earlier today, a left-wing assassination attempt on republican lawmakers. geraldo rivera is here with us on the scene. he will be with us next. dale. dale! oh, hey, rob. what's with the minivan? it's not mine. i don't -- dale, honey, is your tummy still hurting, or are you feeling better to ride in the front seat? oh! is this one of your motorcycling friends? hey, chin up there, dale. lots of bikers also drive cars. in fact, you can save big if you bundle them both with progressive. i'd like that. great. whoo. you've got soft hands. he uses my moisturizer. see you, dale. bye, rob. just turn on cars.coms on tprice dropswant? and get real-time notifications that could help save you money. use cars.com and save. >> we can all agree that we are blessed to be americans, that our children deserve to a grow p in a nation of safety and peace, and that we are strongest when we are unified, and when we work together for the common good. please take a moment today to cherish those you love, and

out here will be reagan national airport and old town alexandria. these shots first rang out behind the third base dugout. just beyond that, this is the ymca that was hit by some of that gunfire. senator jeff blake, who was there at the practice said he heard the shots, saw the shooter behind the third base dugout and behind the fence. that's where the shooting took place, behind the fence. the shooter never making it on to the field. steve sce that's where he was hit. and then crawled into the outfield, senator blabbing said, leaving a trail of blood, crawling into the outfield before they were able to rush out and render aid after the shooter had been neutralized. >> that dog park a moment ago. video has surfaced from a man named noah nathan. it appears he was out walking his dog this morning when he stumbled into the chaos. >> in all, nathan captured almost six minutes of video likely from the earliest moments of the rampage all the way to that final fatal shootout with police. the members of congress and their staffers were there all practicing

alexandria police say the suspect is in custody.óóó8:40 a.m.president donald trump says he and the viceesident are "deeply saddened" by news of a shooting "tragedy" at a congressional baseball game. the president said in a statement wednesday that "the vice president and i are aware of the shooting incident in virginia and are monitoring developments closely."rep. steve scalise and a number of aides and capitol police officers were shot. alexandria police say the suspect is in custody.trump says, "we are deeply saddened by this tragedy. our thoughts and prayers are with the members of congress, their staffs, capitol police, first responders, and all others affected."óóó8:15 a.m.house majority whip steve scalise of louisiana was shot wednesday at a congressional baseball practice, congressional officials say.rep. mo brooks, r-ala., said several other people also were hit, including two law enforcement officers. . . . . ( james ) breaking news we are following out of virginia. police are investigating a shooting at a baseball practice for the g-o-p baseball team. this is a map of the area

both here on capitol hill and in alexandria. jonathan: we'll have team coverage throughout the everything on wjla.com. don't miss anything on the air and online. at bottom of the hour we'll have more from the emergency dispatches and a detailed look at who the shooter is. also, house leaders are speaking up together on the chamber floor. but right now nancy and i would like to turn it back over to michelle and alison in studio. guys? alison: thanks to both of you. we want to remind you don't miss breaking news, any updateless. if you have to step away from the tv, so many of you first learned about the shooting through an abc7 text alert. subscribe at wjla.com/text. coming up next at 4:00, continuing coverage of the ballpark ambush. michelle: also, there was a big primary election last night. results of the virginia governor's race still ahead. alison: the weather, doug, it's still hot out there. doug: still hot but the cold front is through the area. showers and the storms west and north. a couple of showers in the metro area.

it's very early we will -- i want to thank the alexandria police, the sheriff's office and the alexandriadepartment for their rapid response to the requests for assistance in 911 call. appreciate their rapid response and certainly saved lives. >> was there one shooter. >> at this point we're going to gather the investigators together and look at what we have and put this incident together, again, it's very early on and there's a lot of witnesses to be interviewed. once we have more information, we'll certainly pass on whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need. >> chief, was any of your officers injured. >> i'll turn it back over to the alexandria chief. >> thank you chief. >> can you tell us what the status,/worry not going to answer any questions at this point. as the chief pointed out this is an active on hoy going investigation. we

i would like to thank the alexandria police department, the u.s.itol police and medical response teams who responded to the scene this morning for their quick and decisive actions. actually saving livings. i remind you that this is an active investigation, and details continue to unfold. i stressed this earlier and i'm going to underscore it now, that the fbi is not going to talk about the character or nature in which we are investigating this case other than to say we continue to work this as an active investigation and an ongoing matter. there has been some confusion about the injuries involved. our statements sent out earlier today, this afternoon actually, identified the number of victims and their injuries. let me just review that quickly for you. five individuals were shot. a congressman, a united states capitol police officer, a congressional staffer, a lobbyist and the subject. and an additional two individuals, a congressman and a capitol police officer attained secondary injuries at the scene and were transported to local hospitals and tr

the news in alexandria, virginia, congressman steve scalise of louisiana has been shot today by a gunman who fired dozens of rounds into a baseball diamond where republicans and staffers and former staffers were all hold ang early morning practice in advance of tomorrow's annual charity benefit congressional baseball game. congressman steve scalise of louisiana was shot and wounded. he was reportedly shot in the hip. luckily, one of the other republican members on site at the time is a doctor. congressman brad winstrop of ohio was playing with republicans was at the practice. he is an army surgeon who served in iraq. he was one of the members of congress who was able to personally able to render immediate first-aid to congressman scalise as soon as the gunman was down, as soon as he was shot by police and therefore safe for these other members of congress to get to congressman scalise as he lay grievously wounded in the infield of that baseball diamond. congressman scalise has had surgery today after his gunshot wound. he remains in critical condition tonight. a former congressional staf

alexandria police? capitol hill police? fbi?ee of them will be working together. we have a congressman involved in the capital is, of course, and the alexandria police, because of the geographical location. it will be a concerted effort. it won't be pushing and shoving to see this case it is. i can assure you that everyone will work together on this particular case. those rare instances where democrats and republicans are doing the right thing, together with the game for a charity event. there is going to be a lot of cooperation and we are trying to find out who the shooter is. butill be done immediately, the shooter's motivation may take a bit longer. and as much as they survived, that's always good as well. reports are from "the washington post" that he is wounded and that the information we have at the moment. how complicated is this? there were quite a few people on that field. did you need to go through each and every one? do you need to detain them? to talk toly have each and every one of them. i assume that some of them d

we will -- i want to thank the alexandria police, sheriff's offers and the alexandria fire departmente to the request for assist. rapid response and certainly save lives. >> at this point, we are going to gather the investigators together, and look at what we have, and put this incident together, again, it is very early on, and there is a lot of witnesses to be interviewed, once we have more information, we will certainly pason whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need. >> chief ... >> i'm going to turn it back over to the alexandria chief. thank you, chief. >> folks, we won't answer any questions at this point because it as he pointed thought is an active ongoing investigation, we cal

if you are familiar with this area in alexandria, this is the del ray neighborhood of alexandria.ee from the aerial view they have a lot of condos and townhomes in this area, and of course, a baseball park where these members of congress had gathered to take part in one of the few remaining to my bipartisan events that happens here in washington, d.c. if there's anything that can bring both sides together, it is the love of baseball, and this bipartisan congressional baseball game is one that see members come together, the differences aside to enjoy their love of baseball together. hard to hear this has been disrupted in such a violent manner. larry: it is not clear the target was. brooks was saying he was on deck for this practice, and it appeared that steve scalise was on second base, not really close to him. let's go to the life desk and dave lucas -- live desk and dave lucas. dave: to talk of it a little bit about the baseball game that was supposed to be playing tomorrow night -- they have been doing this since 1909. they call it the congressional baseball game, and it is 39-

we had individuals from the alexandria sheriff's department, the alexandria fire department who helped us a great deal in trying to manage this thing and i couldn't be more proud of the men and women involve from the alexandria police department. >> pierre, which -- [ inaudible ] >> i introduce the chief from the capitol police to talk a little bit about their reference in this area and what they're doing. chief. >> thank you, chief. i would like to of course start out by thanking the alexandria police, sheriff's office, fire department. the fbi, atf and all of our federal law enforcement local partners who assisted in this response. certainly it's a very large response and going to take a while to sort through all of the details. my units of our protection division were on site with congressional protectee. when the incident occurred they engaged in gunfire with the suspect and were assisted by the alexandria police. the officers, the united states capitol police officers who were injured are in good condition and have not suffered any life-threatening injuries at this point. as we ge

known to most is lockdown. >> alexandria p.d.as shot. we don't know his condition. there were several members of congress there. lots of staffers. this is a rite of summer in washington, these baseball practices. and there was a big game that was supposed to happen, i believe form. >> yeah. at national stadium in washington, d.c. >> what we hear from witnesses is horrific. >> we've heard from a number of witnesses in the last 30 seconds or so. according to one of them, the gunman being described as a white male, middle-aged. and sounded as if there was a rifle there was used. tom costello is back at the scene. what can you tell us at this point? >> reporter: we have made our way to the scene. and right on monroe street. you'll see a tremendous amount of fire and police activity. and the work is to your left. that transpired about 7:00 this morning. and we talked to one witness who said she was walking her dog through the park, when shots rang out. and one person went down. she believed that was a security officer that was returni

and they were assisted by the alexandria police.icers, the united states capitol police officers who were injured are in good condition and have not suffered any life-threatening injuries at this point. as we get more information, we will be working through the fbi and our local partners of the alexandria police to provide more details as they become available. at this point, i would like to turn it over to the fbi. >> good morning. i'm the special agent in change of the washington field office. i just want to reiterate what the chief said. this is a secure community at this point. it is an active investigation. but the security of the community is paramount and i want to reassure you that is the case. we got involved around 9:30 this morning. initially we responded with our national capitol response squad per our protocol. once it was confirmed we had a member of congress involved in the incident, we have taken the lead. however, this is a joint command and this is a joint investigation with our state and local partners to include

back live at simpson field in alexandria. the f.b.i. directors were going shoulder to shoulder a second ago. they are covering every square inch not only of the ball field but past the fence, toward the third base line and the dugout. they are retracing the steps of the gunman and the capitol police officers who came running at the gunman. he had rifles and they had pistols. he had the advantage with the range of the rifle. but one of the officers even after being shot was able to fire a shot in excess of 50 yards. hitting the gunman in the chest. and bringing this to an end. nancy? nancy: reaction coming in from from gabrielle giffords who posted to twitter this. she posted "my heart is with my former colleagues, their families and staff and the u.s. capitol police, public servants and heroes today and every day." she was shot in the head as a man opened fire as she met with constituents in arizona six years ago. six people died in that attack. also congressman nancy pelosi among many praising the capitol police for the actions today.

although the alexandria police department will be assisting with the virginia state police. sam sweeney is closer to the crime scene that where i am. we are taught -- we have talked to people who were shocked by what happened here early this morning. sam: this is sam medstar in washington, d.c. we understand that congressman steve scalise successfully underwent surgery at medstar. ps here as well as who we believe -- he is here as well as one of the u.s. capitol police officers feared we saw a capitol police officer leaving here that looked to have personal belongings with them. after this situation, a helicopter brought the which isan to medstar the main from a hospital in d.c. according to the majority leader, mccarthy, the --gressman -- the whip underwent successful surgery. we have not heard from the hospital feared we understand he has done well. we have seen a number of capitol police officers which -- we saw in alexandria police officer coming here. we are watching activity in what is a busy medical facility at the washington hospital center. ems, ifdc fire and becaus

we will -- i want to thank the alexandria police, the sheriff's office and the alexandria fire department for their rapid response to the requests for assistance in 911 call. appreciate their rapid response and certainly saved lives. >> was there one shooter. >> at this point we're going to gather the investigators together and look at what we have and put this incident together, again, it's very early on and there's a lot of witnesses to be interviewed. once we have more information, we'll certainly pass on whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need. >> chief, was any of your officers injured. >> i'll turn it back over to the alexandria chief. >> thank you chief. >> can you tell us what the status,/worry not going to answer any questions at this point. as the chief pointed out this is an active on hoy going investigation. we because they're collecting information and evidence. it would be be premature. we'll come back in an hour and a half and give you an update on what we can speak to and perhaps answer any questions. >> any other shooters out there.

moreha live in alexandria, wusa 9. >> stephanie, thank you a lot for that. alexandria's police chief is praising the three officers who responded to the shooting. officer nicole bataglia took cover behind parks cars. that alloweded two other officers to return fire. michael brown said that his department took great care to try and clean up every sign of that shooting. >> we spent a great deal of time and energy walking through the area to make sure that we didn't leave behind things that would remind people of what happened on the 14th after we collected the evidence. we want folks to remember simpson park the way that it's always been remembered in this community as a place where kids learn to play baseball, others went to play and we had good times. >> now for congressman steve scalise, his condition has been upgraded if -- from critical to serious and doctors say that he continues to show signs of improvement. >>> it was a road rage incident, not a hate crime that led to the murder of a 17-year-old muslim girl walking with friends to her sterling mosque e

we had individuals from the alexandria sheriff's department, of course alexandria fire department, whose initial response helped us a great deal trying to manage this thing. quite frankly, i couldn't be more proud of the membership and women involved from the alexandria police department. they did an outstanding job in my opinion from what i hear so far. >> united states capital police officers who were injured are in good condition and have not suffered any life threatening injuries at this point. >> we have secured the scene and we're getting through the logical investigative steps at this point. >> you said you don't think this is an assassination attempt, and yet it would appear members of congress were target. >> no, i did not say that. i said we are not sure at this moment. it's still early on in the investigation and we're working through it. >> thoughts and prayers everybody affected by today's incident. i want to congratulate the effort of the state, local, and federal. we're all here together. early this morning state police activated. i want to thank everybody involved but spe

live in alexandria with more on how the community came together. lauren. >> shawn message in del ray section of alexandria tonight. hate is not welcome here. this is closest we can get to simpson park. we're about a lock away. it may be in effect or everything may not be reopened until firday we have to wait and see on that. many that lives here awoke to the sound of gunfire. they were hor instead of staying at home with the blinds drawn people came out to show they won't stand for something like this. >> this is our community. and we are all a part of it regardless of what our politics are or where we come from. >> what's going on community is coming violence which was likely meant to tear us part. >> hundreds of people turned out. a mere 12 hours following the or ivk shooting at u.s. congress a local piece aplace is doting to their families. the big event on the main drag mount vernon street several hundred people gathered mayor and police chief would thank for first responders and heroic seasons, >> literally when we talk about kurming under fir

of the alexandria police department.anted to give the status as to what we are doing in the community to try and reassure the community in terms of the safety and security of our residents. right now, we are canvassing the immediate area, doing door-to-door with our colleagues from the sheriffs department and the fire department so that we can reassure people in the community that we believe this incident today is over, although the investigation will continue in the area for a while. we are working with some other departments in the city, the department of community and health services to make services generally available for these kinds of situations available to our community over the next couple days. we care very much about our residents and the people who come to visit us and we are doing everything we can to reassure them that this is a safe community and that your government and your public safety personnel care deeply about it. you will see a lot of law enforcement and fire personnel working the area, trying to

kayla is at the scene in alexandria a j