--- title: Jeff Flake and Brad Wenstrup Help Injured in GOP Train Crash description: Sen Jeff Flake and Rep Brad Wenstrup, who helped during the Congressional baseball shooting, rushed to the rescue after the GOP train crash canonical: https://time.com/5127611/gop-train-crash-jeff-flake-brad-wenstrup/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-31T20:39:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:05:41.361Z article:section: Politics og:title: GOP Lawmakers Rush to Aid Those Injured in Deadly Train Crash og:description: Both men were hailed for helping when Rep. Steve Scalise was shot in June og:url: https://time.com/5127611/gop-train-crash-jeff-flake-brad-wenstrup/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd7e7b1dd97d4a5e/6988fa1cbc6cfc043a3e4d40/train-crash-gop-republican-amtrak.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: GOP Train Accident og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: GOP Lawmakers Rush to Aid Those Injured in Deadly Train Crash twitter:description: Both men were hailed for helping when Rep. Steve Scalise was shot in June twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd7e7b1dd97d4a5e/6988fa1cbc6cfc043a3e4d40/train-crash-gop-republican-amtrak.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # GOP Lawmakers Who Sprang into Action During Baseball Shooting Again Rush to Help After Train Crash > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c93f1437-5795-4e4a-aa9c-19c983d9a086&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 31, 2018 8:39 PM UTC  Emergency personnel work at the scene of a train crash involving a garbage truck in Crozet, Va., on Jan. 31, 2018. Emergency personnel work at the scene of a train crash involving a garbage truck in Crozet, Va., on Jan. 31, 2018. Zack Wajsgrasu—The Daily Progress/AP by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 31, 2018 8:39 PM UTC Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Ohio Rep. Brad Wenstrup rushed to the rescue Wednesday after a train they were taking to a Republican policy retreat in West Virginia [crashed into a garbage truck](http://time.com/5127148/republican-train-truck-crash-west-virginia/), killing one person inside the vehicle. It wasn’t tthe GOP lawmakers’ first time responding in an emergency situation together — last June, both lawmakers helped save House Majority Whip Steve Scalise after he was [shot at a baseball practice](http://time.com/4817818/steve-scalise-alexandria-shooting/) for the GOP congressional team, with Wenstrup [tending directly](https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/14/health/brad-wenstrup-steve-scalise-alexandria-virginia-shooting-bn/index.html) to Scalise’s injury until he was taken to the hospital. > [](https://twitter.com/Jason%5FSamuels/status/958782865709379587) Flake said the experience immediately brought up memories of the Congressional baseball practice shooting in an audio statement Wednesday. “It was all too reminiscent of the baseball shooting, with myself and Brad Wenstrup working on Steve Scalise — similar type of feeling,” he said. Describing the aftermath of the train crash, Flake said he made his way toward the back of the train until he was parallel to the crash before exiting the train to help. “I was with Brad Wenstrup, Congressman, and also Sen. Cassidy working on another injured person, who came to, but was obviously in very bad shape,” Flake said. “Worked on him for about 20 minutes and then put him on a stretcher and carried him on an ambulance.” No GOP lawmakers or aides were injured in the crash, and Amtrak spokesperson Kimberly Woods said there were no reported injures from train passengers or crew members. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5127611/gop-train-crash-jeff-flake-brad-wenstrup/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5127611/gop-train-crash-jeff-flake-brad-wenstrup/"},"headline":"GOP Lawmakers Who Sprang into Action During Baseball Shooting Again Rush to Help After Train Crash","datePublished":"2018-01-31T20:39:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:05:41.361Z","description":"\"It was all too reminiscent of the baseball shooting.\"","url":"https://time.com/5127611/gop-train-crash-jeff-flake-brad-wenstrup/","keywords":["republicans","Virginia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd7e7b1dd97d4a5e/6988fa1cbc6cfc043a3e4d40/train-crash-gop-republican-amtrak.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd7e7b1dd97d4a5e/6988fa1cbc6cfc043a3e4d40/train-crash-gop-republican-amtrak.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GOP Train Accident","caption":"GOP Train Accident","creditText":"Zack Wajsgrasu—The Daily Progress/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/republicans/","name":"republicans"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5127611/gop-train-crash-jeff-flake-brad-wenstrup/","name":"GOP Lawmakers Who Sprang into Action During Baseball Shooting Again Rush to Help After Train Crash"}}]}] ```