Wife Of Alexandria Gunman: 'I Can't Believe He Did This'
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 16, 2017 4:00PM
Getty Images / Photo: Michael B. Thomas
When the wife of Alexandria shooter James Hodgkinson addressed the media for the first time on Thursday, near her home in Belleville, IL, she said she had no idea that her husband was planning to shoot people at a GOP baseball practice, according to reports. He told her he was going to Washington DC to “change the tax brackets" and "work on taxes," she said.
"I just don't know what to tell you people. I had no idea this was going to happen and I don't know what to say about it. I can't wrap my head around it, OK?" Sue Hodgkinson said pleadingly.
Alexandria shooter's wife: "I can't wrap my head around it" https://t.co/VkUwVenIu6 pic.twitter.com/dj36YIqzy7
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 16, 2017
James Hodgkinson, a onetime home-inspection business owner, left the couple's home in March to move east to D.C. not long after their adopted daughter returned with her young son, she said. He sold nearly all his possessions ahead of the move, Sue Hodgkinson noted at the press conference. "[James] was home all day long and he just wanted a break," she said. The couple had been married almost 30 years when he left for D.C., where he lived out of a van on a block that bordered the field where he staged the attack.
According to the Guardian, when she was asked if she'd like to say something to the victims, Sue Hodgkinson replied, “I don’t even know who was shot. I’m sorry that he did this but there is nothing I can do about it."
As the Tribune notes, a Facebook page that looks to be that of Sue Hodgkinson was still online as of Friday morning, attracting comments both supportive and vitriolic.
James Hodgkinson had a history of domestic violence and also a long list of minor offenses in his home county, most of which were tossed out, according to the AP. His social media showed an intense opposition to the GOP and Donald Trump, and he had reportedly volunteered for the Bernie Sanders campaign in Iowa.
James Hodgkinson opened fire at the Congressional baseball practice on Wednesday morning, shooting four people and critically wounding majority whip Steve Scalise. He was shot by a responding officer and later died from his wounds.