U.S. lawmaker shot by anti-Trump gunman showing improvement

WASHINGTON DC, USA – Top US Republican lawmaker Steve Scalise continued to show improvement as he recovers from being shot by a gunman angry about President Donald Trump, the hospital treating him said Saturday, June 17.

Scalise and 3 other people were shot early Wednesday, June 14, at a park in suburban Washington as they practiced for a congressional charity baseball game.

The 51-year-old from the southern state of Louisiana was hit in the left hip by a bullet from a high-velocity rifle. 

The round fragmented into hundreds of pieces and tore apart bones, internal organs and blood vessels, Jack Sava, director of trauma at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, has said.

Scalise, the number 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, arrived at the hospital in a critical state, facing “an imminent risk of death,” according to Sava.

Scalise underwent another surgery on Saturday and “continues to show signs of improvement,” MedStar Washington Hospital Center said in a statement.

“He is more responsive, and is speaking with his loved ones,” the hospital said, adding that he had been downgraded to “serious” condition.

The gunman, 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois, was shot and killed by responding officers. – Rappler.com