The FBI on Wednesday said it was “too early to tell” if Republican members of congress were targeted by a gunman who fired at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, injuring five people.
“Too early to tell if they were targeted or not,” FBI agent Tim Slater, who is in charge of the bureau’s Washington field office, told reporters at a press conference.
“Can you say yes, whether you think there is a political motivation in the shooting?” a reporter asked.
“No. Not aware of that. At all,” Slater replied.
“Are you saying that this could have been random?” another reporter pressed.
“Don’t know,” Slater said. “It’s really early in the investigation.”
Alexandria police announced Wednesday morning that the FBI will take over the investigation into the shooting.
Slater initially said that the shooting was “not an assassination attempt” but later revised that statement.
“It’s too early to say in the investigation to say one way or other,” he said. “If I said that, I misspoke.”
