A man in his early 50s stabbed his adult daughter and wife to death and critically injured his son-in-law before police shot him to death in Fairfax County, Virginia, Monday morning.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said two officers responded to a garden-style apartment in the 3900 block of Persimmon Drive, near the intersection of Pickett Road and Route 236 in the Mantua neighborhood, and encountered “a bloodbath of a scene” as the man, armed with a curved 10-inch knife, was stabbing his son-in-law.
Davis said an officer shot and killed the man after repeatedly commanding him to drop the knife.
Davis said this is a case of a man “butchering his family.” He added that there had been no previous domestic calls to the residence.
The officers arrived to the scene following a pair of 911 calls, including one from the son-in-law who was outside clearing snow and rushed back to the apartment after hearing a disturbance, Davis said.
The son-in-law saw his wife had been already stabbed, and the man was stabbing his mother-in-law, according to Davis.
“Then the father-in-law turned the knife on his son-in-law,” Davis said.
Police said the man’s daughter died at the scene and his wife died a short time later at a hospital. His son-in-law was also transported to a hospital.
The son-in-law and the woman who was killed have a 1-year-old baby who was also inside the apartment, Davis said. That child wasn’t injured and is now in the care of social workers.
The officer who killed the man is on modified duty, as is routine. Davis said police body camera video and 911 audio will be released within 30 days.
A map of the area is below.
WTOP’s LaDawn Black contributed to this report.
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