The alleged gunman who shot and wounded several people Wednesday morning at a GOP congressional baseball practice near Washington D.C. has ties to the Quad Cities.
Police identify the shooter as James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois.
In an address, President Donald Trump said the gunman died after being shot by law enforcement at the scene.
According to the Washington Post, Hodgkinson campaigned for Bernie Sanders in the Quad Cities during the senator's presidential run. A St. Louis restaurant owner told the paper that he and Hodgkinson stayed with another Sanders supporter in Rock Island after canvassing for the campaign.
The man says Hodgkinson was a passionate progressive and showed no signs of violence at the time.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a congressional aid and two Capitol police officers were wounded in the shooting Wednesday morning. All are in stable condition.
Senator Bernie Sanders acknowledged the gunman's ties to his campaign in Senate chambers:
"I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice this morning is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign. I am sickened by this despicable act, and let me be as clear as I can be: Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms."
Central Illinois congressman Rodney Davis from the 13th District plays catcher for the GOP congressional baseball team. He says he was up to bat when he heard the first gun shot.
"I heard a loud noise, what I thought was construction site dropping a loud piece of metal and the next thing I heard was, 'Run, he's got a gun,'" Davis says. "I ran into the dug out and dove in on top of others who had made it there before me and realized that wasn't the best place and dispersed out for more secure areas. I witnessed something I never thought I'd witness going to a baseball practice for a game we do for charity."
Davis was not wounded.
Illinois 18th District Representative Ray LaHood from Peoria and John Shimkus of the 15th District also play on the team, but were not at practice this morning.