Report: Capitol Police Directed to Wrong Place for Shooting

WASHINGTON (AP) — A published report Monday said the Capitol Police were initially directed to the wrong location the morning that Rep. Steve Scalise and others were shot at a congressional baseball practice.

A Capitol Police spokeswoman, Eva M. Malecki, said in response to questions about the report that a use of force investigation continues in the wake of the June 14 shooting, and as a result she can’t comment.

The report by Bloomberg Politics said members of the Capitol Police’s elite Containment and Emergency Response team were initially directed to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s house in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington — instead of to the park in Alexandria, Virginia, where the shooting occurred.

It’s not clear how much time the tactical squad lost because of the mix-up. And it might not have mattered anyway since Alexandria Police were already responding.

The report cited two people speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

It was not clear what might have caused the misdirection, and an internal investigation is under way. One possibility was a transponder code mix-up or a code being used for the wrong congressional leader.

Capitol Police officers were already on-site when the shooting occurred because Scalise, R-La., has a security detail as the third-ranking member of House GOP leadership, the whip.

He and three others were wounded in the shooting that raised concerns about congressional safety. The shooter, an Illinois man named James Hodgkinson, was shot and killed at the scene.

Scalise was gravely injured and underwent multiple surgeries before finally getting discharged from the hospital last week.

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