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A high-ranking United States Congressman remains in a critical condition after he and three others were shot as they practiced for a charity baseball game near Washington DC.
Key points:
- Steve Scalise suffered broken bones and injuries to internal organs
- President Donald Trump has visited Mr Scalise in hospital
- The FBI is investigating the shooters motives
Republican politician Steve Scalise was shot in the left hip, suffering broken bones, injuries to internal organs and severe bleeding.
He had surgery but will need further operations, the MedStar Washington Hospital Centre said.
The gunman, who had posted angry messages against US President Donald Trump and other Republicans on social media, opened fire on the group at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington.
He was wounded in a gunfight with Capitol Hill police and later died.
Mr Trump posted on Twitter that Mr Scalise was in "very tough shape" after he visited the hospital.
Mr Trump sat by Mr Scalise's bedside and spoke with his family during the visit, and press secretary Sean Spicer described the scene in the intensive care unit as "emotional".
The US President and first lady Melania Trump spent about half an hour at the hospital.
The gunman, identified by police as 66-year-old James Hodgkinson from the St Louis suburb of Belleville, Illinois, fired repeatedly at the men playing on the baseball field.
Congressmen at the ballpark described hearing loud noises like the sound of firecrackers and 15 to 20 people lying on the ground and realising they had only baseball bats to defend themselves against bullets.
"When he started shooting, he was shooting to kill people," said Representative Joe Barton, the Republican team's manager.
"And thank God he wasn't a very good shot."
Also wounded were a Congressional aide and a lobbyist, officials said, while one Capitol Hill police officer suffered a gunshot wound and another officer twisted an ankle and was released from hospital.
"It was not only chaotic but it was a combat situation," Alexandria Police Chief Mike Brown said.
Fears divisive politics sparked violence
While police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was too early to determine whether it was a deliberate political attack, the shooting intensified concerns about the sharp divide and bitter rhetoric in US politics.
FBI special agent Tim Slater declined to comment on whether the gunman had a vendetta against Republicans.
"We continue to actively investigate the shooter's motives, acquaintances and whereabouts that led to today's incidents," Mr Slater said.
The gunman was believed to have been in the Alexandria area since March, he said.
Investigators believe the suspect had been living out of his vehicle.
Hodgkinson had raged against Mr Trump on social media and was a member of anti-Republican groups on Facebook.
Mr Trump, who announced the gunman's death, called for unity.
"We are strongest when we are unified and when we work together for the common good," he said.
In a show of bipartisanship, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said on the floor of the House: "An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us."
The House's top Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, echoed Mr Ryan's message.
The attack was the first shooting of a member of Congress since January 2011, when Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt at a gathering of constituents in Tucson, Arizona.
Six people were killed in that attack, and Ms Giffords resigned from Congress and became a gun control activist.
Reuters
Topics: world-politics, law-crime-and-justice, donald-trump, united-states