[TIMESDISPATCH] Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, was stabbed multiple times early today at his Bath County home and his son, Gus, is dead from a gunshot wound, authorities said. Gus Deeds had been released Monday following a mental health evaluation performed under an emergency custody order.
At a news conference in Charlottesville, a Virginia State Police spokeswoman said Deeds was stabbed numerous times in the head and torso but was alert and had given statements to authorities. She said Deeds, who was being treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center, had been seriously maimed.
A source told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the emergency custody order, or ECO, allowed Gus Deeds to be held as long as four hours to determine whether he should be held longer, up to 72 hours, under a temporary detention order.
The son was evaluated Monday by the Rockbridge Area Community Services Board in Lexington. An emergency custody order can be issued by any magistrate.
A source said no psychiatric bed was available, which is why Gus Deeds was released
At the news conference, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Gus Deeds was found inside the family's residence in rural Millboro with a gunshot wound, and died at the scene. Police did not say whether the son's wound was self-inflicted. Geller said authorities are not looking for other suspects. No one else was at the home at the time of the attack.
Authorities said they were still working to determine the sequence of events that they said took place around 7:25 a.m.
Deeds was stabbed numerous times before walking down a private drive and out to state Route 42, where he was picked up by a cousin who lives nearby, state police Sgt. Mike King told The Roanoke Times. Deeds was flown to the hospital from the cousin's farm, King added.
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