James T. Hodgkinson was going to change taxes, wife of shooter says 
 
 Suzanne Hodgkinson came out of her home near Belleville, IL, to talk to the media about her husband, James "Tom" Hodgkinson. She had no clue he wanted to shoot members of Congress. She also thought he was coming home after running out of money. ||||| Washington (CNN) As his colleagues played baseball in his honor Thursday evening, MedStar Washington Hospital Center medical gave an update on Rep. Steve Scalise, who remains in critical condition but has improved. 
 
 Scalise, the third ranking member of House Republican leadership, was among six people who were injured after a gunman opened fire Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, during a Republicans' early-morning practice ahead of a charity baseball game. 
 
 The gunman, identified by officials as James Hodgkinson, died after the shootout. 
 
 "Earlier today, Congressman Steve Scalise underwent a second surgery related to his internal injuries and a broken bone in his leg," MedStar said in a statement Thursday. "He remains in critical condition, but has improved in the last 24 hours. The congressman will require additional operations, and will be in the hospital for some time." 
 
 The Congressional Baseball Game , an annual tradition, went on as planned Thursday. Though the game pegs Republicans against Democrats, attendees and participating lawmakers showed unity in wake of the shooting. More than $1 million has been raised for Congressional Sports for Charity so far, the game's organizers announced. 
 
 Instead of wearing hats representing their home teams, as is the normal tradition, this year players on both teams wore Louisiana State University hats in honor of Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, for part of the game. 
 
 House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told CNN's Jake Tapper on "Erin Burnett OutFront" that despite party affiliation they were both on "Team Scalise" on Thursday. 
 
 President Donald Trump, who visited Scalise in the hospital on Wednesday, sent a video message that played at the start of the game. 
 
 "By playing tonight, you are showing the world that we will not be intimidated by threats, acts of violence, or assaults on our democracy," Trump said. "The game will go on." ||||| The wife of James Hodgkinson, who authorities say shot a congressman and injured others at a ballfield in Virginia, had no idea her husband would do it, and was sorry it happened. 
 
 Suzanne Hodgkinson told reporters gathered outside her Belleville home Thursday afternoon that she "couldn't believe it" when she heard about the shooting. 
 
 "I'm sorry that he did this, but there's nothing I can do about it," she said, according to interviews posted on St. Louis television stations' websites. 
 
 Four people — including Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority whip from Louisiana, who was shot in the hip — were wounded in the shooting. A Capitol Police officer was also injured in the incident. James Hodgkinson, who was 66, died of gunshot wounds suffered in a shootout with police. 
 
 Suzanne Hodgkinson said she thought her husband had traveled to Washington to focus on tax issues but had not known much of what he was doing. She works for a tax firm, she said, and was busy in recent months. 
 
 The couple had been married for 30 years, she said, and he'd sold almost everything from his business before moving out to D.C. in March. She said she thought he was going to return to Illinois because he'd run out of money. 
 
 Suzanne Hodgkinson asked reporters to leave the area, saying that she and her family had been through enough. 
 
 Richard Wagner, chief deputy of the St. Clair County sheriff's office, said afterward that Hodgkinson was told about the shooting by a journalist and has been with the FBI since the shooting. 
 
 "She had no idea he would do this. She had no idea he felt as strong as he did," Wagner said. "She's just devastated." 
 
 In Belleville, residents continued to grapple with the news that one of their own, a man many knew could be quick to anger, but who many said didn't show outward signs of violence, could have committed the mass shooting. 
 
 Tom Reis has owned the popular T.R.'s Place about a mile from Hodgkinson's home since 1997. 
 
 On Wednesday, June 14, 2017, James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill. opened fire on Republican congressmen practicing baseball in suburban D.C. 
 
 "It makes you feel real bad that something like this is connected to here," Reis said. "We had policemen and even the FBI in here asking questions, but we just don't know him." 
 
 A half-dozen patrons gathered at the tavern Thursday afternoon for the $1 taco special and to shoot pool said Hodgkinson didn't hang out there and wasn't known to them. 
 
 "What makes a guy do something like that? I think it's terrible," Reis said. "It doesn't matter whether you're Republican, Democrat, black or white, Muslim or whatever. You just don't go out and shoot someone." 
 
 Jack McClenahan, a retired Belleville business owner, said he had several unpleasant run-ins with Hodgkinson over the years while Hodgkinson protested a favored Democratic political cause outside the local post office. 
 
 "He would get politically aggressive. I go down to the post office quite often, and he would be there collecting signatures on things he was for, and if you weren't of his opinion, he'd be very agitated," McClenahan said. 
 
 "It was super shocking for our town because you don't want bad press, and this is about as bad as press you can get," he said. 
 
 cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com 
 
 Chicago Tribune Graphics Chicago Tribune Graphics 
 
 Twitter @ChristyGutowsk1
– The wife of Alexandria shooter James Hodgkinson says he told her he was going to Washington to work on "changing the tax brackets" and she had no idea he was going to hurt anybody. The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Suzanne Hodgkinson trembled and held a deputy's arm as she spoke to reporters in the southern Illinois town. She said they had been married 30 years, but hadn't been on the best of terms before he sold most of his possessions and departed early this year. "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," she said. "I'm sorry that he did this but there’s nothing I can do about it." Belleville residents say the outspoken liberal could be "politically aggressive." He would collect signatures for causes, and "if you weren't of his opinion, he'd be very agitated," business owner Jack McClenahan tells the Chicago Tribune. Rep. Steve Scalise was one of six people injured when Hodgkinson opened fire on a congressional baseball practice before being fatally injured by police. CNN reports that the hospital where Scalise is being treated says he is still in critical condition after a second operation. The hospital says he has improved in the last 24 hours, but will remain hospitalized "for some time." (Democrats gave the trophy to Scalise's office after winning the congressional baseball game.)