House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., returned to Capitol Hill Thursday, after spending more than three months away recovering from a gunshot he received at Congressional Baseball Game practice.
‘I’m back,’ he tweeted, including a picture of himself and his wife Jennifer, from the Speaker’s balcony.
Before heading to the House floor, Scalise met with Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who was overwhelmed with emotion.
He said it was like ‘rebuilding Humpty Dumpty’ in his first interview since the shooting, sitting down with CBS’ Norah O’Donnell for a 60 Minutes special that will air Sunday night.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., is back on Capitol Hill today after spending more than three months recovering from a gunshot wound to the hip
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise sat down with 60 Minutes for his first interview since being shot at Congressional Baseball Game practice in June
In the first clip he describes just how bad his wounds were.
‘I found out later just how much damage was done internally,’ he said.
‘You know, I mean, my femur was shattered. The hip and pelvis had serious damage where the bullet went through and, you know, did some damage to areas that had to be shored up with steel plates,’ Scalise described.
On the morning on June 14, Republican lawmakers were practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., when shooter James Hodgkinson opened fire with a rifle and a handgun, hitting Scalise and two other players.
The two Capitol Police officers, on hand to guard Scalise, as he’s the No. 3 Republican in the House, were also wounded.
Other members of Congress said if it hadn’t been for armed officers Crystal Griner and David Bailey, the shooting would have been a bloodbath.
Scalise was transported to the Medstar Washington Hospital Center where he was listed in ‘critical’ and later ‘serious’ condition.
He spent the first four days after the shooting unconscious.
‘They did a phenomenal job of rebuilding,’ he said, suggesting his ordeal was similar to that of the nursery rhyme character Humpty Dumpty. ‘I mean, there were, there was a lot of damage inside that – that had to get fixed.’
‘They put you back together again,’ O’Donnell offered.
Scalise agreed.
‘They put me back together again,’ he said and laughed.