ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI 8th) was present at the baseball practice Wednesday morning when multiple people were shot including Congressman Steve Scalise by a lone gunman in Alexandria, Virginia.
Bishop spoke to Local 4’s Rod Meloni about the experience and how the shooter was hunting them. The full interview can be hear below.
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“This guy walks up to the third base line up to the chain link fence and began to fire,” Bishop said. “I hit the ground and someone yelled ‘shooter.’ There was one exit because the field is surrounded by backstop and he had positioned himself in such a way that he was going to take us out one-by-one as we went to that exit.”
ORIGINAL REPORT: Congressman Steve Scalise among others shot at GOP baseball practice in Virginia
Bishop sheltered in place as Capital Police officers as part of a security detail for Scalise, who is the House Majority Whip, returned fire.
“I just stayed still, and then, when the detail came around and started firing back, I realized I had that moment to get out,” Bishop said. “If they had not been there, this would have been a totally different story. Everybody there would have been killed. I’m sure of that. That guy was hunting us and was not going to stop until he was finished.”
Bishop was standing next to home plate when the shooter began firing.
“I watched him aim and fire. He seemed absolutely calm with complete focus,” Bishop said. “He unloaded magazine after magazine. It must have gone on for ten minutes.”
Scalise (R – LA 1st) was hit in the hip. He is listed in stable condition and undergoing surgery.
“As I hit the deck, Scalise was running off the field. He was at second base and he was taken down immediately. My first instinct was to get up and to go towards him because he was right there and I wanted to do something to help.”
Charity baseball practice this AM when a loan gunman open fired on members of Congress and security. Several down - please pray for them.
— Mike Bishop (@MikeBishopMI) June 14, 2017
Bishop is a CPL carrier and said he wish he had been carrying.
“I don’t for the life of me think I have to have it everywhere I go, certainly not the baseball practice, but there is an element out there where you feel like you’ve got to protect yourself.”
Bishop said they do a charity baseball game every year and have regular practices each morning.
“It’s fun to get out and be a kid again and frankly these practices are nothing by fun,” Bishop said. “You would not ever think out of all the other secure places we’ve been in that this would be an area of concern.”
Rep. John Bergman (R – MI 1st) and Rep. John Roolenaar (R – MI 4th) were present at the baseball practice and are safe.
“I felt like I was being hunted,” Bishop said. “That was that guy’s mindset. The methodical way in which he was walking and firing and reloading was a guy on a mission. He was hunting us and he was not going to stop until he was finished.