Sen. Rand Paul said the shooting on Wednesday morning that injured House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise and multiple aides could have turned into a “massacre” if not for the presence of armed Capitol Hill Police.
While recalling his experience during the attack, Paul told Fox News, “I do believe without the Capitol Police it would have been a massacre. We had no defense. We had no defense. We had no defense at all.”
“I think we’re lucky that Scalise was there because this was his security detail. Without them, it would have been a massacre. There would have been no stopping this guy. And we were like sitting ducks. We had no place to run,” Paul continued.
Paul recounted a similar story to MSNBC:
One of the things that is really fortunate, and probably everyone would’ve died, except for the fact that the Capitol Hill police were there. And the only reason they were there was because we had a member of the leadership on our team. If Scalise hadn’t been on the team—unfortunately, he was hit and I hope he does well—but also, by him being there, it probably saved everybody else’s life because if you don’t have a leadership person there, there would have been no security there.
Later on, he added, “The Capitol Hill police, from what my understanding is, like I say, incredibly brave and probably saved the lives of everybody there. Had they not been there, it would have been a massacre, ‘cause there’s no escaping a guy with a—you know, if he’s got several hundred bullets and we had no weapons and no place to hide—so he if would’ve advanced on the rest of us, there would have been no chance. The only chance we had was that the shots were turned by the Capitol Hill police.”
Fox News reports Scalise was shot in the hip during the attack.
According to Fox News, “multiple” congressional aides were also shot by the gunfire from a rifle.
Rep. Ron DeSantis claims, before the shooting, he had a “very strange” interaction in which a man approached him and asked if Republicans or Democrats were practicing on the field.
Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown said it is “unclear” how many individuals were shot, but five people were “transported medically.”
President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both issued statements saying Scalise is with their thoughts and prayers.
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