A man with a metal baseball bat has attacked two employees at a politician’s office in the US.
Democratic congressman Gerry Connolly said the man walked into his northern Virginia office on Monday morning, asked for him, and then struck two female workers with the bat.
One of the victims, an intern on her first day on the job, was struck in the side, while another, an outreach director, was struck on the head.
Fairfax City Police said officers arrived minutes after the attack and detained the man.
Mr Connolly, who is serving his eighth term in congress, was not in his office at the time.
The injuries suffered by the two staff members were not life-threatening.
He said that the suspect was known to police, adding: “[The suspect] has never made threats to us, so it was unprovoked, unexpected and inexplicable.
“I have no reason to believe that his motivation was politically motivated, but it is possible that the sort of toxic political environment we all live in, you know, set him off, and I would just hope all of us would take a little more time to be careful about what we say and how we say it.”
Police named the suspect as Xuan-Kha Tran Pham, 49, of Fairfax.
He is being held without bond on charges of malicious wounding and aggravated malicious wounding.
