Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds suffered critical injuries after being stabbed repeatedly at his home Tuesday; reports say that Deeds’ son, Gus, attacked his father before fatally shooting himself.
Deeds, 55, is being treated for his wounds at University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, where his condition Tuesday afternoon was upgraded to “fair.”
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The
Richmond Times-Dispatch reported son Gus Deeds was released Monday following a mental health evaluation performed under an emergency custody order.
Authorities went to Deeds’ home at 7:25 a.m. after getting a 911 call,
a spokesperson for the Virginia State Police told Fox News. Detectives were still at the scene several hours later.
“It’s a very complex investigation,” said the spokesperson, Corinne Geller, who added that detectives have talked to the state senator.
Creigh Deeds is a former Bath County prosecutor who was elected to the House of Delegates in 1991 and the state Senate 10 years later. He narrowly lost a race for the Virginia Attorney General’s office in 2005 to outgoing Gov. Bob McDonnell, with less than 400 votes separating the two out of nearly 2 million cast in the election. Deeds ran against McDonnell again in 2009, losing to him in the governor’s race.
“In this tough and sad time, our thoughts and prayers are with the Deeds family. The news from this morning is utterly heartbreaking,” McDonnell said in a statement, according to Fox News. “At this moment, our state unites in prayer for Creigh Deeds and his family.”
Police are still searching for a motive. Dennis Cropper, executive director of the Rockbridge County Community Services Board, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that an emergency custody order allowed Deeds’ son, Gus, to be held up to 48 hours. He was evaluated at Bath Community Hospital, but was released when no psychiatric bed could be found.
Geller said authorities are not looking for any other suspects.
“This is a terrible tragedy,” Virginia delegate David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said in a statement, according to the Times-Dispatch. “Senator Deeds was very close to his son Gus, and had taken Herculean efforts to help him over the years. Our thoughts and prayers are with Creigh and the family at this difficult time.”
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