In March 2017, a neighbor called police to complain about Hodgkinson firing a rifle at trees in their residential neighborhood. The officers who responded checked Hodgkinson's gun permit, then advised him not to shoot in the area but did not arrest him. Hodgkinson owned a home inspection business that had an expired license at the time of the shooting. Investigators believe that he had been living in a van in Alexandria for about six weeks at the time of the shooting. Witnesses say he often parked the van near the ball field and nearby YMCA, and was a frequent visitor to the YMCA. According to Tim Slater of the FBI's Washington, D.C., field office, Hodgkinson was "running out of money. He was not employed at the time of the event, and he was looking for some local employment. He was married for 30 years, and it appears that that marriage was not going very well. It was just a pattern of life where you could tell things were not going well."Nuckols, Ben. Associated Press. (June 21, 2017). "FBI: Gunman Who Shot Congressman Had No Target in Mind" , U.S. News & World Report, June 23, 2017.
