Alexandria Shooter Hodgkinson Said to Be Abusive Alcoholic

James T. Hodgkinson, the man who shot House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) and four others at a Republican congressional baseball practice on Wednesday, is shown in court reports to have been an abusive alcoholic.

Cathy Rainbolt became a foster child of Hodgkinson and his wife, Sue, in 2003, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday. Rainbolt died in 2015 from a drug overdose, but court reports show that before she left the Hodgkinson household she was a victim of physical and verbal abuse.

Rainbolt told a judge before she died that Hodgkinson would drink every day, hit her in the face, and drag her by the hair when she would try to get away.

Rainbolt found solace at a neighbor's house. She went to live with the neighbors, Nicki Stieren and her daughter Janae Rainbolt, and took the daughter's last name after she was released from the Hodgkinsons' care. According to court reports, Hodgkinson went into Stieren's house and chased Rainbolt before grabbing her by the hair, pulling her off the floor where she was hiding under the bed and throwing her back down to the ground.

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