*A gunman who sprayed bullets at Republican lawmakers during baseball practice in a Washington DC suburb has died, US President Donald Trump said. *
House of Representatives Majority Whip Steve Scalise was one of five injured in the early morning ambush at a park in Alexandria, Virginia.
The attacker, identified as Illinois native James T Hodgkinson, was killed after a firefight with police.
The injured included two officers with non-life threatening wounds.
President Trump described the attack as a “very, very brutal assault”.
“We may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, they love our country,” he added.
He also called Mr Scalise – who was shot in the hip and is in a critical condition after surgery – a “patriot and a fighter”.
