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Gunman shooting at Virginia baseball field dead: Trump

Published : 14 Jun 2017, 20:59

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Policemen work at the site of the gunshot at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia state, the United States, on June 14, 2017. Steve Scalise, a U.S. House Republican leader, was among possibly five people shot by a gunman Wednesday morning as he was playing baseball game with other congressmen and aides. Photo Xinhua.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the gunman shooting on Wednesday morning at a congressional baseball practice field in Virginia was dead from serious injuries.

Before Trump's remarks from the White House, the U.S. authorities said the gunman had been identified as James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old white male from Illinois.

Steve Scalise, a House Republican leader, as well as two law enforcement officials and one aide to a House representative from Texas, were wounded in the shooting as they were playing baseball game with others. Trump said all of them are in stable conditions.

"Authorities are continuing to investigate the crime," said Trump, calling for unity after the shooting.

Hodgkinson owns a home inspection business in the state of Illinois, according to the authorities. His home inspection license expired in November 2016 and was not renewed, a Washington Post report quoted Virginia state records as saying.

Hodgkinson was charged in April 2006 with battery and aiding damage to a motor vehicle, according to online records in St. Clair County, Illinois. The charges were dismissed, records show.

However, it's "too early to tell" if Republican members of congress were targeted by the gunman, FBI agent Tim Slater said at a press conference.