PAUL RYAN: 'An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us'

pulse

June 14, 2017 6:20 PM

Ryan said "we are united" during brief remarks Wednesday, just hours after a gunman shot Scalise and four others earlier in the morning.

Paul Ryan.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said "we are united in our shock" during brief remarks he delivered from the House floor Wednesday, just hours after a gunman shot Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and four others earlier that morning.

That gunman, whom law enforcement officials suspect to be 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois, shot Scalise, the House majority whip, and several others at a practice for the annual congressional baseball game earlier Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC.

"There are very strong emotions throughout this House today," Ryan said. "We are all horrified by this dreadful attack on our friends and colleagues and those who serve and protect this Capitol. We are all praying for those who were attacked and for their families."

Ryan then listed each of the five victims of the shooting, which included Scalise, two congressional aides, and two Capitol Police officers.

"We are all giving our thoughts to those currently being treated for their injuries at this moment," Ryan said. "And we are united. We are united in our shock. We are united in our anguish."

"An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us," he continued, to a round of applause from representatives of both parties.

Scalise is currently in stable condition at MedStar Washington Hospital after being shot in the hip. Police fired multiple shots at the gunman, whose motivation was not yet confirmed by law enforcement, although a number of Hodgkinson's social media posts and letters to the editor at his local paper showed that he held staunch anti-Republican views. President Donald Trump announced in a statement Wednesday that Hodgkinson died.

Watch Ryan's comments:

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