State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, a leading Virginia political figure who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2009, was stabbed repeatedly Tuesday at his home during an altercation with his son, who then apparently took his own life, the authorities said.
Investigators believe that Deeds’ son, Gus, 24, stabbed his father before shooting himself. A spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, Corinne Geller, described the episode as “an attempted murder-suicide.”
Deeds, 55, was in fair condition by late afternoon, after being flown by helicopter from rural Bath County, where he lives, to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. He was treated for multiple stab wounds to his head and upper torso.
Geller offered no details about the argument between father and son. Citing state law prohibiting disclosure of mental-health information, she would not confirm or deny reports that Gus Deeds had undergone a psychiatric evaluation Monday under an emergency order but had been released when there were no clinic beds available in the region.
Dennis A. Cropper, executive director of Rockbridge Area Community Services, told The Richmond Times-Dispatch that Gus Deeds had been evaluated at Bath Community Hospital and released.
Cropper issued a statement late Tuesday declining to elaborate, citing the family’s wish for privacy. In general, he said, no one can be held against their will beyond six hours under an emergency custody order. Gus Deeds, whose given name was Austin, was alive when the police arrived at the house he shared with his father and stepmother, Geller said. He died soon after from his wounds.
Despite his injuries, Creigh Deeds was able to walk down the driveway from his home in the community of Millboro to a state highway, the authorities said. A cousin who was driving by took him to his house. The authorities responded to a 911 call at 7:25 a.m.
Gus Deeds was one of four children of Deeds and his former wife, Pam, whose marriage ended a few months after the 2009 general election. Deeds remarried in 2012.
The couple shared a home with Gus, a former student of the College of William & Mary. His Facebook page said he liked mountain climbing, instrument making and computer games. Under political views, he wrote, “Too busy with love to care.”
As a state senator, Deeds has represented the 25th District in rural western Virginia since 2001. Before that he served nine years in the Virginia House of Delegates.
