FBI: Alexandria baseball shooter acted alone

The gunman who opened fire on GOP lawmakers and aides practicing outside of Washington, D.C. for the Congressional Baseball Game acted alone, the FBI said Wednesday.

“We also assessed that there was no nexus to terrorism,” said Andrew Vale, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office. 

Vale said the incident is being treated as an assault on a member of Congress and an assault on a federal officer.

{mosads}House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and several others were wounded as they practiced on a field in Alexandria, Va.

The alleged shooter, identified as James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., was not known to have been diagnosed with mental illness, but he was known to have an anger management problem, said Timothy Slater, the special agent in charge of the criminal division in the bureau’s Washington office.  

Hodgkinson visited the office of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during his time in Virginia, officials said, but investigators are not sure if he met the senator. He was also in email communication with Illinois Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D) and Dick Durbin (D) between January and the time of the incident, they added.

Authorities said while they found no evidence that Hodgkinson searched for the baseball game or practices on the Internet, agents are still investigating.

The FBI also confirmed the existence of a paper list containing six lawmakers’ names, although they said they would not classify it is a “hit list.” Slater said Hodgkinson searched only two of the names on this list on the internet.

Hodgkinson also took photos of the park where the shooting occurred, but the FBI does not believe they were meant as surveillance of intended targets

Hodgkinson, who had both a rifle and a handgun in his possession, is believed to have purchased the weapons after the presidential election.

He is believed to have attended one tax reform protest in Washington, D.C., during his time living in Virginia.