Who is Zack Barth? More on Houstonian shot in Virginia park attack

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Thursday, June 15, 2017
Houstonian among victims in violent Virginia shooting
Houstonian among victims in violent Virginia shooting, Tom Abrahams reports.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Houston man has been named as one of the victims of Wednesday morning's shooting at a GOP baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia.

Zack Barth is the legislative correspondent for Austin Congressman Roger Williams.

His father told ABC13 reporter Tom Abrahams his son is "okay," and has received well wishes from Speaker of the House Paul Ryan after the shooting.

His sister, Ellen Barth said she learned of her brother's injuries early this morning.

"I was really terrified for him," she said. "Obviously it's nothing that anyone wants to hear, that their brother has been shot, and that's what I woke up to this morning."

She described the shooting as he explained it to his family.

"He heard one gunshot and then he heard someone yell run," she said. "And he started running towards the dugout. And then he got on the ground. Felt himself get hit in the calf. And from there started hearing rapid fire. "

Houston man wounded in shooting at Republican baseball practice

Here is what we know about Barth:

He's a Spartan and a Longhorn

Barth graduated from Stratford High School in Houston's Spring Branch ISD, and went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude in 2015 from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in government.

Served Congressmen, Governors and Mayor Pro-Tem

Barth has had a lengthy career in government in a short time, according to his LinkedIn account.

In addition to working as an intern for then Houston Mayor Pro-Tem and now Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez in 2013, he also interned for U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller the very next year.

In 2014, Barth was a fellow at then Gov. Rick Perry's office.

In 2015, he interned for Houston U.S. Rep. John Culberson, managing constituent concerns and interacting with the community.

He also worked in a variety of roles for Texas Congressman Randy Neugebauer.

Last September, he went to work for Austin Congressman Roger Williams as a legislative correspondent.

Presidential campaign experience

Barth worked to help coordinate operations for Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign for eight months.

He loves Houston sports

Unlike many fair weather fans, Barth has shown enthusiastic support on LinkedIn for Houston's sports teams, including the Astros, Rockets and the Texans.

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