4 Things To Know About Baseball Bat Suspect In Attack On Rep. Connolly's Staff

FAIRFAX, VA — Before attacking two members of Rep. Gerry Connolly's staff with a baseball bat, the suspect chased a woman in Chantilly with a bat, authorities said. And family members said the accused man has a history of mental illness — here's the latest in the case.

Fairfax City and U.S. Capitol Police identified the suspect as Xuan-Kha Tran Pham, 49, of Fairfax. According to police, Pham entered Connolly's district office at 10680 Main Street Suite 140 around 10:49 a.m. Monday.

Connolly, a Democrat representing the 11th congressional district, said in a statement the suspect asked for the congressman before attacking two staffers with a baseball bat. Connolly later told CNN the victims are a senior aide and an intern who just started the position that day. Both went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The congressman was at a food bank ribbon cutting when the attack happened.

Five minutes after police were called, Pham was arrested. He faces charges of felony aggravated malicious wounding and malicious wounding. He was taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and held without bond.

Police say an officer also suffered minor injuries.

Even before the baseball bat attack at Connolly's office, there were concerns about Pham's mental health and other incidents.

What to know in this case:

1. He has been affected by mental illness

Pham's father, Hy Pham, told The Washington Post his son has schizophrenia and has been affected by mental illness dating back to his teen years. The father had been attempting to get mental health care for his son, who couldn't work because of his mental health state.

A neighbor told NBC Washington the father went to neighbors saying his son had mental health concerns but wouldn't harm people.

In 2022, Xuan-Kha Pham filed a lawsuit against the CIA alleging they imprisoned him and that he was "brutally tortured … from the fourth dimension," NBC News reported. The CIA is working to drop the lawsuit.

2. He's had charges dropped in a previous police struggle

Xuan-Kha Pham had charges dropped in an incident at his home involving a struggle with Fairfax County police officers in January 2022. According to the Post, police said Xuan-Kha Pham tried to avoid officers and attempted to take an officer's stun gun when officers said they wanted to take him to a mental health facility.

The Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney dropped charges relating to assaults on officers and attempting to take the stun gun under an agreement for Xuan-Kha Pham to receive mental health services.

3. He's the suspect in another baseball bat incident that day

Before showing up to Connolly's district office, Xuan-Kha Pham was involved in another crime Monday, according to Fairfax County Police.

Police told Patch in an email that around 10:37 a.m., a man approached a woman parked near Maylock Lane and Point Pleasant Drive in the Chantilly area. The man asked the woman if she was was white before hitting her vehicle windshield with the bat and fleeing. The woman was not injured.

Police identified Xuan-Kha Pham as the suspect and obtained warrants charging him with hate crime and felony destruction of property.

The Associated Press said home surveillance footage from a neighbor in that area showed the man chasing a screaming woman.

4. He hasn't made threats against Connolly before

Connolly told NBC Washington that Xuan-Kha Pham hasn't threatened the congressman's office before."

"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," the congressman told the TV station.

The attack comes amidst a trend of increasing threats affecting members of Congress. U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger recently testified that threats against members of Congress increased 400 percent in the last six years.

Last year, Capitol Police investigated 7,501 threats, down from 9,625 in 2021. However, police noted the caseload of threats remains "historically high."

According to Capital Police, all members of Congress receive threats and "concerning statements," and numbers are similarly split among the Republican and Democratic parties.

In a statement via the Associated Press, Connolly noted the district office in Fairfax doesn't have the same security as the office in the Capitol.

"He’s obviously somebody suffering from serious mental illness but it does underscore for all of us the vulnerability potentially of our district offices because we don’t have the level of security we have here on [Capitol] Hill," said Connolly via the Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.