An Oakton, Virginia, homeowner shot and killed a man in what police are calling self-defense after the man attacked the homeowner with a large landscaping rock inside his home Wednesday night.
“We’re fortunate nobody else was injured by this incident. There are two children that were inside the home as well as two other adults. It’s still a very, very active investigation. But preliminarily, we are investigating this as a self-defense, fatal shooting,” said 2nd Lt. James Curry of the Fairfax County Police Department.
Curry, during a news conference, said the shooting occurred just after 6 p.m. in the 11400 block of Waples Mill Road.
The homeowner was outside his house when he encountered the man and the two ended up in a physical altercation.
“Our homeowner quickly retreated back inside his home. He retrieved a firearm from inside the home, and at some point the man made entry into the home with an object that appears to be a large landscaping rock. The homeowner then fired and shot the man,” Curry said.
“We believe that there was some sort of physical altercation that occurred on the property just outside the home there, and then that continued when he entered the home with that rock.”
The man with the rock has not been identified.
“Hopefully, when we can positively identify this individual, we can maybe start putting some puzzle pieces together as far as why was he in this area? Why was he at this home?,” Curry said.
The property is in a secluded area and has a long driveway. Curry said no car was found nearby.
“We’re trying to determine all the circumstances — how he got into the home and the extent of the injuries.”
Curry said the homeowner’s wife, two children and another adult were inside the house at the time and were not injured. The homeowner was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
The police say there appears to be no connection between the homeowner and the intruder.
“There’s nothing to indicate that they knew each other at this time,” Curry said.
“As we interview more folks, review the surveillance footage, we can get a better understanding what happened.”
Below is a map of the location of the incident.
WTOP’s Juan Herrara and Colleen Kelleher contributed to this story.
