Since the United States Congress was established with the 1st Congress in 1789, fourteen of its members have been killed while in office, and eighteen have suffered serious injuries from attacks. The members of Congress were either injured or killed by someone intending serious harm, or there is speculation of lethal intent by an unknown assailant (such as the two congressmen who died of the National Hotel disease). The first member of Congress to be killed or wounded in office was Henry Wharton Conway who was killed in a duel in 1827. The most recent death occurred in 1983 when Korean Air Lines Flight 007, carrying Larry McDonald, was shot down over the Pacific Ocean. The most recent member of Congress to be injured was Maxwell Frost who was assaulted in 2026.
All of the 14 members of Congress killed in office were male and 10 were Democrats, three were Republicans, and one was a Democratic-Republican. Four members died in duels, and a total of ten (three senators, six members of the House of Representatives, and one territory delegate to the House) died from gunshot wounds.
Nineteen members of Congress have been wounded while in office. Eight of the wounded were Republicans, seven were Democrats, two were Anti-Jacksonian, and there is one member each from the Democratic-Republican Party and Whig Party. Two were women, and three were senators. Five of those injured were wounded during the 1954 United States Capitol shooting incident.
Killed
Party colors:
MemberStateDate of incidentPerpetrator(s)CauseIncidentHenry Wharton Conway Arkansas TerritoryOctober 29, 1827Robert CrittendenDuelDied 11 days after being shot in the chest during a duel with Robert Crittenden near the confluence of the White and Mississippi riversSpencer Darwin Pettis MissouriAugust 28, 1831Thomas BiddleDuelBoth Pettis and Thomas Biddle sustained fatal gunshot wounds during a duel on Bloody Island in Illinois.Jonathan Cilley MaineFebruary 24, 1838William GravesDuelShot by William Graves, the Whig Congressman from Kentucky's 8th district, during a duel on the Marlboro Pike in MarylandJohn Gallagher Montgomery PennsylvaniaApril 24, 1857Unknown Likely dysentery, theorized by some to be poisoning (disputed)Several people staying at the National Hotel in Washington, D.C., died of National Hotel disease during this time period. Though at the time there were theories that someone had poisoned the hotel guests, 21st century medical experts attribute the outbreak to "dysentery because of the hotel’s primitive sewage system.""The Mysterious National Hotel Disease". History, Art & Archives. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 9, 2021.https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-Mysterious-National-Hotel-Disease/John A. Quitman MississippiJuly 17, 1858David Colbreth Broderick CaliforniaSeptember 13, 1859David TerryDuelBroderick and David Terry, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, took part in a duel in San Francisco. Broderick was shot and died three days later.Edward Dickinson Baker OregonOctober 21, 18617th Brigade, 4th Division of the Confederate Army of the Potomac BattleDied during the Battle of Ball's Bluff, while assigned command of a brigade in Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone's division, guarding fords along the Potomac River in Virginia. The Confederate soldiers were commanded by Brigadier General Nathan George Evans.Cornelius S. Hamilton OhioDecember 22, 1867Thomas HamiltonMurderKilled by his insane 18-year-old son, Thomas, in Marysville, OhioJames M. Hinds ArkansasOctober 22, 1868George ClarkAssassinationKilled in Indian Bays in Monroe County, Arkansas, after being shot in the back by George A. Clark, a member of the Ku Klux Klan and the secretary of the Democratic committee of the countyJohn M. Pinckney TexasApril 24, 1905Unknown Mass shootingA political event in Hempstead, Texas, turned violent when one of the participants, J. N. Brown, began shooting. Other attendees began to shoot as well and a riot broke out. Pinckney, his brother Tom, and Brown were all killed at the scene.Huey Long LouisianaSeptember 8, 1935Carl Weiss AssassinationDied two days after Weiss fired a handgun at him at close range inside the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton RougeRobert F. Kennedy New YorkJune 5, 1968Sirhan SirhanAssassinationShot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after giving his victory speech in the California primary; he died about 25 hours later.Leo Ryan CaliforniaNovember 18, 1978Peoples Temple Mass shootingWhile on an official visit to Guyana to investigate the activities of the Peoples Temple group led by Jim Jones, Ryan was shot multiple times while boarding an airplane leaving Jonestown.United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Staff Investigative Group (1979) "The Assassination of Representative Leo J. Ryan and the Jonestown, Guyana, Tragedy. Report of a Staff Investigative Group to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives", U.S. Government Printing Office.Larry McDonald GeorgiaSeptember 1, 1983Soviet Far East District Air Defense Forces Aircraft shootdownMcDonald was a passenger on board Korean Air Lines Flight 007 which was shot down over the Sea of Japan near Sakhalin island by Soviet interceptors piloted by Major Gennadiy Osipovich on the orders of General Anatoly Kornukov, Commander of Sokol Air Base.
Wounded Party colors:
MemberStateDate of incidentPerpetrator(s) CauseIncidentMatthew Lyon Vermont February 15, 1798Roger GriswoldAssaultLyon spit tobacco juice at Griswold on January 30th and after the House refused to expel Lyon, Griswold caned Lyon on the house floor. Lyon used a pair of fire tongs to defend himself.William Stanbery Ohio April 13, 1832Sam HoustonAssaultAfter Stanbery accused Sam Houston of profiteering off Andrew Jackson's forced relocation of Native Americans, Houston confronted Stanbery in Washington, D.C., and beat him repeatedly with a hickory walking stick. During the fight Stanbery pulled a gun, placed it on Houston's chest, and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired.Thomas Dickens Arnold -Tennessee May 20, 1832Morgan A. HeardAssassination attemptArnold verbally blasted Sam Houston for his assault of William Stanbery. A friend of Houston's, Morgan A. Heard, attacked Arnold as he descended the steps of the Capitol, initially attempting to club him. After failing to club him, Heard drew a sawed-off dueling pistol and fired one shot, grazing Arnold's shoulder. Arnold then proceeded to beat Heard and was preparing to spear him when Arnold was disarmed by Congressman Joseph Duncan."Attempt at Assassination," United States Weekly Telegraph, Vol. 6, No. 9 (May 21, 1832), p. 261.Alexander H. Stephens Georgia September 4, 1848Francis H. ConeAssaultFrancis Cone, an Associate Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, called Stephens a "traitor to the South" due to Stephens's move to table the Clayton Compromise. When confronted about this in front of Atlanta's Thompson Hotel, Stephens struck Cone with his walking stick and Cone responded by stabbing Stephens six times in the hand and chest.Mitchell, Jennifer V. (2014) Civil War Treasures: Most Unfortunate Difficulty: Political Conflict in the Pre-Civil War Era . Civil War Book Review: Vol. 16 : Iss. 2. Retrieved May 4, 2020.Charles Sumner MassachusettsMay 22, 1856Preston BrooksAssaultRepresentative Preston Brooks, a Democrat from South Carolina's 4th district, assaulted Sumner with a cane on the floor of the Senate in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The attack followed Sumner's verbal attacks on pro-slavery politicians (including Brooks's relative, Senator Andrew Butler).Charles H. Van Wyck New YorkFebruary 22, 1861Three unknown assailantsAssassination attempt Van Wyck had been receiving death threats since a March 1860 speech on the House floor where he denounced Democratic support of slavery. Almost a year later, as he was walking past the Capitol Building, he was attacked by three successive assailants, at least two wielding bowie knives. Van Wyck was stabbed in the chest, but protected by a copy of the Congressional Globe in his breast pocket, and received knife wounds to his hand. Van Wyck shot one of the assailants before being knocked unconscious.William D. Kelley PennsylvaniaJanuary 22, 1865Alexander P. FieldAssaultField, a would-be delegate of Louisiana as it was being readmitted to the union, assaulted Kelley with a penknife after a heated exchange in the Willard Hotel. Kelley was stabbed in the hand, which he had raised in self defense. Field was not admitted to Congress due to the assault.Freeman. p. 272.Josiah B. Grinnell IowaJune 14, 1866Lovell RousseauAssaultGrinnell was assaulted with an iron-tipped cane by Lovell Rousseau, an Unconditional Unionist Congressman from Kentucky's 7th district, on the east portico of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., in retaliation for derogatory statements he made earlier. Grinnell was pummeled on the "head and face until the cane broke," and was heavily bruised.Alvin Morell Bentley Michigan March 1, 1954Rafael Cancel Miranda,Andres Figueroa Cordero,Irvin Flores,Lolita LebrónMass shooting1954 Capitol shooting: Armed Puerto Rican nationalists shot the representatives from the Ladies Gallery of the House of Representatives in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.Clifford Davis TennesseeGeorge Hyde Fallon MarylandBen F. Jensen IowaKenneth A. Roberts AlabamaJohn C. Stennis MississippiJanuary 29, 1973Tyrone Marshall, John Marshall, Derrick HollowayMuggingStennis was shot twice outside his home in Washington, D.C., during a mugging.Gabby Giffords ArizonaJanuary 8, 2011Jared Lee Loughner Mass shootingGiffords was shot in the head during the 2011 Tucson mass shooting, an assassination attempt on Giffords which occurred at a constituency meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona.Steve Scalise LouisianaJune 14, 2017James T. Hodgkinson IIIMass shootingScalise was shot in the hip by a gunman targeting and firing indiscriminately upon the Republican congressional delegation, during a practice session for the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game at the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia.Rand Paul KentuckyNovember 3, 2017Rene BoucherAssaultPaul was tackled from behind by his neighbor, Rene Boucher, during a dispute over yard waste. Paul sustained five fractured ribs, including three displaced fractures, as well as "cuts around his mouth."Angie Craig MinnesotaFebruary 9, 2023Kendrick HamlineAssaultCraig was punched and grabbed by the neck by Kendrick Hamline in the elevator of her Washington, D.C., apartment. Craig defended herself from Hamline and sustained cuts and bruising.Maxwell Frost FloridaJanuary 23, 2026Christian Joel YoungAssaultFrost was punched in the face at a private event during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, by a man who reportedly made racist remarks and told him President Donald Trump would deport him before the attack; the assailant was arrested and charged in connection with the incident.
Intracongressional violence Joanne B. Freeman documents in her 2018 book The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War the dozens of violent skirmishes that broke out in the United States Congress between members in the lead up to the American Civil War. Freeman states that between 1830 and 1860 there were over 70 instances of violence between congress members. Freeman also notes that the two publications of record at the time, the National Intelligencer and the Daily Globe, often scrubbed fights out of the official record making it tough to learn of every moment of violence on the House and Senate floor. For instance, a fist fight might be described as "an altercation of angry and personal character" instead of an act of violence.Freeman, pp 186-187