Xin chuyển tin đến Quý Vị, Quý NT và CH….
Sáng hôm nay 15/05/2023, một người đàn ông, đến văn phòng Dân biểu liên bang Gerry Connolly ,
muốn gặp ông, nhưng ông không có mặt tại văn phòng.
Người này bất ngờ tấn công 2 nhân viên văn phòng của dân biểu Connolly, gây thương tích cho hai người này.
Nghi phạm có tên là Xuan Kha Trần Phạm, hiện đã bị tạm giam.
Xin mời xem bản tin dưới đây để biết thêm chi tiết.
BMH ///
Washington, D.C
Nghi phạm hiện đã bị tạm giam.
Man with baseball bat attacks 2 staff members in Congressman Gerry Connolly’s Fairfax office
jmoore
May 15, 2023, 3:40 PM
A man armed with a baseball bat showed up at the Fairfax, Virginia, office of Rep. Gerry Connolly Monday morning, asked for the congressman and then attacked two staffers.
“This morning, an individual entered my District Office armed with a baseball bat and asked for me before committing an act of violence against two members of my staff,” Connolly said in a statement.
The U.S. Capitol Police identified the man as 49-year-old Xuan Kha Tran Pham, of Fairfax. He is facing charges of one count of aggravated malicious wounding and one count of malicious wounding.
Capitol Police said they have launched a joint investigation with local police.
“At this time, it is not clear what the suspect’s motivation may have been,” Capitol Police said in a statement. “Based on what we know right now, investigators do not have any information that the suspect was known to the USCP.”
The attack happened in Connolly’s district office in an office park on Main Street in the City of Fairfax at about 10:40 a.m., after the man entered the first floor office. Fairfax City police said.
Both staff members were struck in the upper body with the metal bat and taken to the hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to police.
In an interview with a CNN reporter, Connolly identified the two staffers as a senior aide and an intern on her first day on the job.
Fairfax City police said they responded within five minutes to the reported assault. The man was arrested and taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
In a news conference broadcast by WTOP’s partners 7News, Lisa Gardner, with Fairfax City police, told reporters other people inside the office were hiding in the office when police arrived.
“It is very concerning and it’s, quite frankly, scary that someone can just walk up to an office holding a baseball and just start swinging at innocent victims,” she said.
She said police are still investigating the motive.
“This was unexpected,” Gardner said.
Connolly, a Democrat, has represented Virginia’s 11th District since 2009.
He told CNN he was not at the office at the time and was at a ribbon-cutting for a food bank. He said the attacker also damaged the office, shattering glass and breaking computers.
“My District Office staff make themselves available to constituents and members of the public every day,” Connolly said in the statement. “The thought that someone would take advantage of my staff’s accessibility to commit an act of violence is unconscionable.”
Special agents with the Capitol Police Threat Assessment Section were dispatched to Fairfax along with members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
Last month, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger testified before lawmakers that the number of threats against members of Congress has increased roughly 400% over the past six years.
“Over the course of the last year, the world has continuously changed, becoming more violent and uncertain,” Manger testified.
Other elected officials from Virginia swiftly condemned the violence.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner retweeted Connolly’s statement, calling the attack an “extraordinarily disturbing development.”
“Intimidation and violence – especially against public servants – has no place in our society,” he said.
“The coward who did this should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” tweeted Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican.
WTOP’s Mladen Petkov and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
