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Doyle recounts tense moments in wake of GOP baseball practice shooting | TribLIVE.com
Pennsylvania

Doyle recounts tense moments in wake of GOP baseball practice shooting

Tom Fontaine
Tom Fontaine
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Getty Images
Investigators and men dressed in baseball gear gather at Eugene Simpson Field, the site where a gunman opened fire June 14, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia. Multiple injuries were reported from the instance, the site where a congressional baseball team was holding an early morning practice, including House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) who was reportedly shot in the hip.
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Getty Images
Investigators and emergency personnel gather adjacent to Eugene Simpson Field, the site where a gunman opened fire June 14, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia. Multiple injuries were reported from the instance, the site where a congressional baseball team was holding an early morning practice, including House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) who was reportedly shot in the hip.
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Getty Images
A dugout at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park, site of a morning shooting is shown June 14, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia. U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) was among five wounded, including the suspected gunman, in the attack as Republican Congressional members practiced for a charity baseball game.
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U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle received a text message from a concerned staffer Wednesday morning while he watched his congressional baseball team take batting practice at a Washington, D.C., field.

"Are you OK?"

Doyle said he found the message to be "a little strange." What the Forest Hills Democrat didn't know then was that someone had opened fire on the Republican congressional baseball team as it practiced a few miles away in Alexandria, Va.

When news of the shooting first broke, Doyle's staffer didn't know whether Republicans or Democrats had been targeted in the shooting that would leave House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and four others wounded and the suspected shooter dead.

After receiving his staffer's text, Doyle didn't know whether his Democratic team would be targeted next. Philadelphia Democrat Brendan Boyle is also on the roster.

"I called the players off the field and into the dugout and told them what happened. It seemed prudent to get everyone off the field. Then it was sort of just a stunned silence," said Doyle, a 23-year member of the Democratic team who serves as its manager.

"There was not much we could do," Doyle said. "We just started saying prayers for our Republican colleagues."

Doyle called it a "blessing" that Scalise is a member of House leadership. As such, he is protected by a security detail that was on the field and quickly returned fire when shots rang out Wednesday morning.

The suspected shooter, identified as James T. Hodgkinson of Illinois, wounded two Capitol Hill police officers assigned to protect Scalise. Hodgkinson died at a nearby hospital.

"We have no armed officers on our field. We would have been sitting ducks," Doyle said, noting that a Capitol Hill police officer typically sits in a car parked in a nearby lot during practices.

Doyle said he has "never felt unsafe in Washington or Pittsburgh, and I think most members of Congress will tell you that they don't want personal security (as Scalise had). I know I don't."

When asked if it made sense for numerous members of Congress to be together in a wide-open setting without a security detail, Doyle said, "Maybe that's something that gets rethought."

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Republican and Democratic teams intended to play against each other Thursday as scheduled in the 80th edition of the Congressional Baseball Game. It raises money for charities including the Washington Literacy Center, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington and the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation. The series is currently deadlocked, with Republicans and Democrats having 39 wins apiece and a tie.

Two Pennsylvania Republicans — U.S. Reps. Ryan Costello of Chester County and Pat Meehan of Delaware County — are on the GOP team, but neither attended Wednesday morning's practice.

Costello appeared on the Today show describing how he missed a carpool to the practice by two minutes. And Meehan posted a note to his colleagues at the practice.

Ryan Costello

Pat Meehan

https://twitter.com/RepMeehan/status/874967130118160384