On June 14, 2017, one day before the annual event, a gunman opened fire on Republican members of Congress who were practicing for the next day's game. Four people were shot including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. The gunman was himself killed by Capitol Police. In a 2021 report on every domestic terrorist act in the U.S. from 2015 to 2019, the FBI classified the 2017 shooting as an act of domestic terrorism. Despite discussions about postponing the game, officials said the game would be held as scheduled. The shooting resulted in a dramatic increase in interest for the game; it was reported that revenue from ticket sales and online donations had exceeded $1 million, and organizers stated that 24,959 people were in attendance. C-SPAN also announced that it would televise the game.