Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds critical, son dead after stabbing attack inside home

Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds critical, son dead after stabbing attack inside home

Published November 19, 2013FoxNews.com

Virginia state lawmaker and onetime candidate for governor Creigh Deeds suffered serious injuries in a stabbing attack that took place in his home Tuesday, police said.

Deeds, 55, was flown from his home in Bath County and is being treated at UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, while a second person at the residence, who is believed to be his son, is dead, the Virginia State Police said in a statement.

The hospital says Deeds is in critical condition.

Virginia and national Democratic sources who spoke to Fox News cited Virginia law enforcement authorities as alleging that Deeds’ son, Gus, stabbed him before shooting himself.

Authorities responded to the home at 7:25 a.m. local time. The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Salem Field Office is investigating, the statement added.

Police will hold a press conference on the incident at 12 p.m. local time.
Deeds, a former Bath County prosecutor, was elected to the House of Delegates in 1991 and to the state Senate in 2001, in a special election after the death of Emily Couric.

In 2005, he lost a Virginia attorney general race to current Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, with the margin of victory fewer than 400 votes out of nearly 2 million cast.

In 2009, he lost again to McDonnell 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. “At this moment, our state unites in prayer for Creigh Deeds and his family."

Deeds, a rural Democrat who drafted a constitutional amendment guaranteeing Virginians' right to hunt, long enjoyed support from the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocates.

Deeds and his wife, Pam, divorced shortly after the 2009 campaign.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/19...me-police-say/