Previous shootings involving members of Congress

The shooting during a baseball practice for Republican congressmen at an Alexandria, Va., park is not the first time U.S. representatives have been targets of gunfire. Here's a look at other times lawmakers have been victims of shootings in recent decades:

2011: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, (D., Ariz.) was shot in the head while at a constituent event in a Tucson shopping center. Thirteen people were wounded and six, including federal judge John Roll, were killed by gunman Jared Loughner. A year later, Giffords announced her resignation to concentrate on her recovery. In 2013, Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, started the political action committee Americans for Responsible Solutions.

1983: Rep. Larry McDonald, (D., Ga.) was killed, along with 268 other passengers, on a Korean Air Flight when it was shot down by a Soviet fighter plane. McDonald was headed to Seoul to participate in a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the U.S.- South Korea defense pact.

1978: Rep. Leo Ryan, (D., Calif.) was ambushed and killed at a Guyana airport, along with three journalists, while he was investigating claims that people were being held against their will at the Peoples Temple in Jonestown, a cult lead by Jim Jones. More than 900 cult members died after drinking poison in a mass suicide on that same day.

1968: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, (D., N.Y.) was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles shortly after he delivered a speech during his presidential campaign. He died about 25 hours later. A Palestinian-Jordanian immigrant, Sirhan Sirhan, was convicted of murder.

1954: Five congressmen were shot in an attack at the Capitol building. Four armed Puerto Rican nationalist fired semi-automatic weapons from the Ladies Gallery in the House of Representatives, woulding Alvin M. Bentley (R., Mich.), Clifford Davis (D., Tenn.), Ben F. Jensen (R., Iowa), George Hyde Fallon (D., Md.) and Kenneth A. Roberts (D., Ala.). All eventually recovered.

1935: Sen. Huey Long, (D., La.) was shot at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge, and died about 31 hours later. The gunman, a physician, was immediately killed by Long's bodyguards. Long was killed a month after he announced a run for president.

1905: Rep. John M. Pinckney, (D., Texas) was killed at a prohibition event in Hempstead, Texas after a gunfight broke out. Pinckney, who fought as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, was unarmed. His brother, Thomas, and two other men died. The alleged gunman was later acquitted.