A congressional aide from Houston was among those injured at a shooting in Alexandria, Virginia, that targeted GOP lawmakers on Wednesday.
Texas Republican representatives Joe Barton, Kevin Brady, Mike Conaway and Roger Williams were all at a Republican practice for a charity Congressional baseball game on Wednesday morning when a man — identified by authorities as James Hodgkinson, of Belleville, Illinois — opened fire from behind the third base dugout.
Zack Barth, a graduate of Stratford High School in Spring Branch ISD in 2011, was among those injured, Williams tweeted shortly after the incident.
In addition to Barth, U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, was hit in the hip and was listed in critical condition Wednesday evening, and two U.S. Capitol Guards and Mike Mika, a lobbyist for Tyson Foods, were struck, according to reports.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Barth, who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in government, posted on social media that he is in the hospital and is okay. (We’ve reached out to Barth and his family, but haven’t heard back yet.)
Barth worked as an intern for Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez when Gonzalez was still a city councilman, and then followed up by campaigning for Jeb Bush’s bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination before joining the Williams staff.
He’s been with Williams for a little more than a year now, according to a Williams staff member who described Barth as “a great guy” who is “always super-positive.”
His mother, Julia Barth, stayed at the family’s home in Briarforest, over in northeast Houston, on Wednesday awaiting word on how her son’s surgery went. Barth’s father rushed to the airport to catch a flight and get to the Washington D.C.-area hospital where Barth is being treated, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Barth’s leg was grazed by a bullet during the shooting. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released later on Wednesday. Williams stated via Twitter that Barth is fine and is expected to make a full recovery.
This article appears in Jun 8-14, 2017.
