2 fatally shot in Falls Church murder-suicide, police say

Police think a man in Falls Church hit a woman with a car before shooting her and then himself. (WTOP/Kristi King)
Police think a man in Falls Church hit a woman with a car before shooting her and then himself. (WTOP/Kristi King)
Two men are dead following a shooting in Falls Church. (WTOP/Kristi King)
Two are dead following a shooting in Falls Church. (WTOP/Kristi King)
Fairfax County police on the scene where two men where shot dead Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. (Courtesy Fairfax County police)
Fairfax County police on the scene where two people where shot dead Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. (Courtesy Fairfax County police)
Two people were shot dead outside the Woodlake Towers complex in Falls Church Tuesday. (WTOP/Kristi King)
(WTOP/Kristi King)
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Police think a man in Falls Church hit a woman with a car before shooting her and then himself. (WTOP/Kristi King)
Two men are dead following a shooting in Falls Church. (WTOP/Kristi King)
Fairfax County police on the scene where two men where shot dead Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. (Courtesy Fairfax County police)

WASHINGTON — A man and woman were shot dead in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County, Virginia, Tuesday morning, according to authorities. Detectives believe it was a murder-suicide.

Fairfax County police said the two were discovered outside an apartment complex in the 3100 block of South Manchester Street around 11:30 a.m. and that it seems as though the man ran into the woman, 30-year-old Katherine Martell, with an SUV before shooting her and then himself.

The man has been identified as 30-year-old Christopher Brooks.

Brooks and Martell had a child together, police said in a new release Tuesday afternoon. The child was not at the scene when the incident occurred. Police also believe Martell lived in a building near the shooting.

Police initially said that two men had been shot.

Below is a map of the area where Brooks and Martell were found.

Will Vitka

William Vitka is a Digital Writer/Editor for WTOP.com. He's been in the news industry for over a decade. Before joining WTOP, he worked for CBS News, Stuff Magazine, The New York Post and wrote a variety of books—about a dozen of them, with more to come.

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