Republican Sen. Rand Paul said “everybody probably would have died” when someone opened fire at a GOP congressmen baseball practice Wednesday, had it not been for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s security detail.
“Everybody probably would have died, except for the fact that the Capitol Hill police were there,” Paul said on MSNBC. “And the only reason they were there is because we had a member of leadership on our team.”
Scalise was shot in the hip when the gunman opened fire with a rifle during the practice for an annual congressional baseball game of Democrats vs. Republicans. Members of his security detail returned fire at the shooter and neutralized him. No other members present had a security detail.
“If Scalise wouldn’t have been on the team — unfortunately he was hit and I hope he does well — but also by him being there he probably saved everybody else’s lives,” Paul continued. “If you don’t have a leadership person there there would have been no security there.”
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Two members of the detail were hit, but at least one continued protecting the scene until backup arrived.
“Had they not been there, it would have been a massacre,” Paul added. “Because there is no escaping a guy with — if he’s got several hundred bullets. And we had no weapons and no place to hide. So if he would have advanced on the rest of us, there would have been no chance. The only chance we had was that the shots were returned by the Capitol Hill police.”
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