Two staff in U.S. House Democrat's Virginia office attacked with baseball bat

[May 16, 2023]  By Moira Warburton
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A man wielding a baseball bat attacked two staff members in Democratic U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly's district office in northern Virginia on Monday, Connolly and police said.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Vir.) questions witnesses during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing looking into the firing of State Department Inspector General Steven Linick, on Capitol Hill, in Washington D.C., U.S., September 16, 2020. Kevin Dietsch/Pool via REUTERS

The staff were transferred to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Connolly said.

The suspect, who arrived at Connolly's office asking for the congressman, is now in custody, Fairfax City Police said in a statement.

The United States Capitol Police (USCP) identified the man as Xuan Kha Tran Pham, 49, from Fairfax, Virginia, adding that his motives were not clear. He faces charges of malicious wounding and aggravated malicious wounding.

"The thought that someone would take advantage of my staff's accessibility to commit an act of violence is unconscionable and devastating," Connolly said in a statement.

The USCP is launching a joint investigation with the Fairfax police into the incident.

Connolly, 73, has served in the House since 2009, representing a district that covers Virginia suburbs to the west of Washington, D.C.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Cynthia Osterman)

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