LORTON, Va. — Fairfax County police are investigating after an 83-year-old man was found unconscious in the backyard of a riverfront home in Lorton early Friday morning.
Police said that at around 1 a.m. they received a call about an unconscious man at a home in the 6000 block of River Drive. Police say the man lived at the residence.
A second call came in around the same time from a nearby home reporting the sound of gunshots.
When police arrived, they found Johan De Leede with trauma to the upper body. De Leede was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
“We have crime scene investigators still there gathering any type of forensic evidence that may be there,” county police spokesman Officer Don Gotthardt said.
According to a later press release, a preliminary investigation showed the victim was inside the residence and was shot several times. The origins of the gun shots remain under investigation. Police say they are investigating his death as a homicide.
“Our crime scene investigators, along with our detectives from homicide, are canvassing the area looking for any witnesses, looking for any additional information,” Gotthardt said.
Officials are asking anyone in the area to contact Fairfax County police at 703-691-2131 if they heard or know anything that could help the investigation.
“Any strange sounds, sights … anything that folks that might have been up at that time and saw something unusual on the river, at the riverbank, in the neighborhood, anything like that,” Gotthardt said.
Below is a map of the area where the man was found.
WTOP’s Dick Uliano contributed to this report.
