David Young (file photo)
Iowa’s four representatives and two senators are all safe after the shooting at a baseball practice this morning near Washington, D.C.
Four people were wounded by the shooter, and President Donald Trump said in a statement that the shooter has died after being shot by police.
Iowa Congressman David Young talked about the shooting just minutes after it happened. “I’m just horrified,” Young says.
The Van Meter Republican says he knows Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana was among those who were shot. “It’s just horrible to think about –especially when it is someone you know — but it is just a reminder that life if precious and there’s not a lot we can control. So we should be prayerful in this instance and all instances out there,” Young says.
The shooting occurred during practice for the annual Congressional baseball game–a summertime tradition in the nation’s capital. Scalise is the House Majority Whip, and someone Young calls “a compassionate person.”
“He’s a very kind man, he’s a hard worker ,” according to Young. “When I first came to Congress he reached out to me right away and said ‘if you ever need an help or counsel, or just someone to have breakfast with give me a call.’ His is someone with compassion. He is a good legislator, he’s a good family man, and he is somebody who is here for the right reasons.”
Young says despite the partisan rhetoric in Washington, this is no time for politics. He says they’re all in this together and whether they’re Republican, Democrat or Independent, they’re here for the right reasons. Because of his leadership position, Scalise had a security detail, which shot the attacker.
“Leadership, whether you are the majority leader or speaker, they are assigned a (security) detail. And then you have around capitol hill, you have your Capitol Police that monitors the entrances of the House and Senate buildings and that kind of things,” Young explains. “I’ve always been told by the capitol police and the sergeant at arms that in terms of individual security — it is not something that should be discussed — because you don’t know who is listening and what kinds of holes they may see in any kind of security out here.”
Others in the Iowa delegation also reacted. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst’s tweeted, “please join me in praying for Steve Scalise, Capitol Police and all those impacted at the congressional baseball practice this a.m.”
Congressman Rod Blum tweeted “prayers for all injured” shortly after news of the shooting broke. Senator Chuck Grassley’s staff issued a written statement, confirming Grassley was already at the capitol when the shooting happened.
(Reporting by Mike Peterson, KMA, Shenandoah)