Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake says shooting that wounded congressman, others felt like 'deja vu'

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake ran through the grass and dirt for about 15 feet to take cover in the first-base dugout when a gunman started shooting at a congressional members baseball practice in Virginia on Wednesday morning.

When the shooting stopped, the Republican from Arizona, who spent two years preparing to spend a week alone on a deserted island to put his survivalist skills to the test, turned his belt into a makeshift tourniquet to treat an injured victim with a gunshot wound.

After rushing to help wounded U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Flake used Scalise’s cellphone to call the congressman’s wife to let her know what happened. Flake said later that he didn’t want her to hear the news about the shooting from the media first.

During a 20-minute news conference, Flake repeatedly rejected the label of being a hero. Instead, the junior senator from Arizona lauded the two Capitol Police officers who shot the rifle-toting gunman — who later died — to end his rampage that left two of the wounded in critical condition.

“These guys saved lives,” Flake told reporters. “I didn’t do anything heroic.”

Later Wednesday, Flake went to the hospital to visit those wounded by the shooter.

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In 2011, Flake raced from Mesa to Tucson after learning his friend U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been shot and seriously wounded. He said the incident Wednesday felt like “déjà vu.”

Giffords was wounded in an assassination attempt on Jan. 8, 2011, that left six people dead and 13 wounded on the northwest side of Tucson.

“The community of Tucson understands this feeling better than most,” Flake said.

Flake said he talked to Giffords’ husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, earlier, saying they discussed the need for more civility and bipartisanship in Washington. He said the nation enjoyed a brief period of political civility after the Giffords shooting, but it didn’t last.

Flake said he received criticism from within his party when he stood next to Giffords when she returned to Congress a year after the shooting.

Giffords put out a written statement shortly after Wednesday’s shooting.

“This shooting is an attack on all who serve and on all who participate in our democracy,” Giffords said. “May all Americans come together today with prayers for the survivors, love for their friends and family, and the courage to go about every day making this country its best. Our nation is resilient, and we always come back stronger.”