ROCK ISLAND -- The Illinois man who police say opened fire on members of Congress at a Virginia ballpark had worked on a presidential campaign in the Quad Cities, according to a former Davenport alderman and the Washington Post.
News 8 spoke with former Davenport alderman Wayne Hean who remembered briefly meeting Hodgkinson when he was in the Quad Cities.
Hean said he hosted several volunteers at his home but Hodgkinson stayed in Rock Island.
Hean remembered talking with Hodgkinson about his ties to Belleville but was turned off by his views that he said were 'extreme.'
A St. Louis area restaurant manager, Charles Orear, said that he had met James T. Hodgkinson "on the Bernie (Sanders) trail in Iowa," the report said.
According to the Washington Post, Orear and Hodgkinson worked together on Sanders' presidential campaign. They also stayed overnight at a Sanders supporter's home in Rock Island.
From the time they spent together, Orear gathered that Hodgkinson was "on the really progressive side of things," the report indicated. He described him as a "very mellow, very reserved," and "quiet guy."
Reports indicate that Hodgkinson was injured during the shooting Wednesday, June 14th. During his statement, President Donald Trump said that Hodgkinson had died from his injuries.
According to the Associated Press, Hodgkinson had been previously arrested for battery, resisting arrest and drunken driving.
Court records show that his legal trouble started in the 1990s. His most serious problems apparently came in 2006, when he was arrested on the battery charge. Records indicate he has not been involved in any legal cases since 2011.
Hodgkinson's Facebook page indicates that, until recently, he ran a home-inspection business out of his home in Belleville, in the southwestern corner of the state, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report