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Months of plotting, vindictive political rage and an opportunity to act on both culminated in the fateful day 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson opened fire on congressional Republicans at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia.
Now, seven years later, inside accounts of the survivors and first responders are being told, the events of that day – and the days leading up to it – revisited in the new multi-part Fox Nation special, “Strike Zone: The Congressional Baseball Shooting.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., faced a near brush with death that day in June 2017. Hodgkinson had arrived at the field near the third base side in a white van he was living out of at the time. After finding out those practicing on the field were Republicans, he opened fire on the unsuspecting representatives.
A bullet struck Scalise’s hip and ricocheted off his pelvis, leaving him fighting for his life with massive internal bleeding.
SCALISE RECALLS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE FIVE YEARS AFTER BEING SHOT: ‘GOD PERFORMED MIRACLES THAT DAY’
House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., faced a near-death experience after being struck in the hip and suffering massive internal bleeding. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Police at the scene were tasked with keeping him and lobbyist Matt Mika alive while trying to figure out how to get both to a hospital as quickly as possible.
“Initially, they put me in an ambulance and were going to drive to George Washington Hospital… at about seven in the morning, which is heavy, heavy traffic,” Scalise recalled in an interview conducted by Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who hosts the series.
“They took me out of the ambulance and, at that point, I don’t know what’s going on. I was like, ‘Why’s my head on the ball field again?'”
Scalise, fearing he might bleed out on the field, wanted to get somewhere, anywhere. Moments passed before a Park Police helicopter swooped in and whisked him away to MedStar Hospital, which, unlike George Washington Hospital, had a helicopter pad.
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Fox News’ Peter Doocy hosts Fox Nation’s “Strike Zone: The Congressional Baseball Shooting,” streaming now on the platform. (Fox & Friends/Screengrab)
“They put me on the helicopter, and I knew I was starting to fade again,” he said. He lost consciousness shortly after.
All the while, Mika, who had been shot multiple times, remained on the ground. He was also interviewed for the Fox Nation special, where he credited his late mother for watching over him throughout the ordeal.
“Her passing away at a young age was for her to be here for me like this,” he said. After being loaded onto an ambulance, he was at George Washington Hospital in less than 15 minutes.
Five people were wounded that day. After exchanging fire with police, Hodgkinson was shot and died at a local hospital later that day.
VideoCapitol police officer David Bailey, who was at the scene that day, and trauma surgeon Libby Schroeder, who operated on Mika, were among the other firsthand stories captured in the series.
Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram also gave his inside account of that day – from hearing reports that Scalise had been shot, to reporting about it on-air and receiving updates on Scalise’s condition from insiders.
To hear a moment-by-moment recounting of the shooting at the congressional baseball practice at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park, sign up for Fox Nation and begin streaming “Strike Zone: The Congressional Baseball Shooting” today.
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VideoTaylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.
