Who Is James T. Hodgkinson? Illinois Home Inspector ID'd As GOP Congressional Shooter

An anti-Republican home inspector from southwestern Illinois has been identified as the shooter at the Republican congressional baseball practice Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia. James T. Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, a city outside of St. Louis, was taken into custody by Alexandria police after he allegedly shot and wounded five people, including Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority whip. While speaking about the shooting, President Donald Trump said Hodgkinson had died from wounds suffered during a shootout with police.

Law enforcement agents arrived at a Belleville home connected to Hodgkinson just after 10:30 a.m., according to the Washington Post. A neighbor told the Post that Hodgkinson had not lived at that residence for "quite a while," adding that Hodgkinson's wife had left to go to work Wednesday morning as she normally does. St. Clair County Sheriff's Office received a call March 24 concerning Hodgkinson using a rifle to target practice, reportedly firing around 50 shots into trees at the end of his street, the Post reports. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest Palatine news. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

An Alexandria lawyer told the Post that he recalled seeing Hodgkinson loitering for the past several weeks in the lobby of a YMCA near the baseball field where the shooting occurred. He also was spotted at a bar in the Del Ray, an Alexandria neighborhood, according to the Post. According to the bar's manager, Hodgkinson had frequented the watering hole sporadically for the past few months, drinking Budweiser in the can and watching golf on TV, never talking politics, the report added.

"He just seemed like the average working-class kind of guy," she said. "He didn’t look disheveled."

On his Facebook page, which has been pulled down, Hodgkinson listed himself as the former owner of JTH Inspections and JTH Construction. State records show, however, that his home inspection license expired in November of 2016 and was not renewed, according to the Post. In April 2006, Hodgkinson was charged with battery and aiding damage to a motor vehicle in St. Clair County, but those charges were dismissed, the Post reports.

RELATED: Rep. Steve Scalise, 4 Others Hit By Gunfire

Hodgkinson's Facebook page — its banner image was a photo of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — also listed various anti-GOP groups before it was removed. Groups included on his Facebook page included "Terminate the Republican Party," "Boycott the Republican Party" and "Illinois Berners United to Resist Trump."

The Republican congressman who represented the district Hodgkinson lived in also received 14 emails and telephone calls from the accused shooter, criticizing policies. Rep. Mike Bost told the Post his staff searched for past messages after law enforcement identified Hodgkinson and contacted his office.

"This one never crossed the line, but he was always angry," Bost told the Post.

Hodgkinson contacted his local newspaper, too. The Belleville News-Democrat received several letters to the editor from 2012, which attacked GOP tax policies, the newspaper reports.

Hodgkinson's Facebook page states that he studied at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and studied flight training at Southwestern Illinois College.

Patch will continue to update this story.

More via the Washington Post and the Belleville News-Democrat

UPDATED (2:28 p.m. Wednesday, June 14)

PHOTO 1: A profile photo of James T. Hodgkinson from his Facebook page. (Screen shot via Facebook.com)

PHOTO 2: People gather near the scene of a shooting Wednesday, June 14, during a Republican congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Brandon | Associated Press)

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