Summary: An elderly Virginia man attacked his wife with an ax and then turned on himself with a chainsaw.
A Virginia man assaulted his wife with an ax and then attacked himself with a chainsaw. The 70-year-old man from Springfield was seen striking his 76-year-old wife with the blunt side of a hatchet. The man ultimately died from the injuries he inflicted on himself from the chainsaw.
Fairfax County police received a call that a domestic dispute assault with a weapon had happened around 3:30 pm. An adult family member arrived at the home, pushing through the front door to witness the attack. Fairfax County Police Officer Reem Awad said, “The family member was able to rescue the victim, bring her outside. At which point, the male suspect did follow outside and a struggle ensued over the ax. 911 was called at that point and we responded.”
The man returned to his home and barricaded himself inside. According to the police statement, officers were in the process of setting up a perimeter around the home when they saw him lying on the garage floor with major injuries.
Awad said, “One officer was able to see inside the garage where the suspect was located on the floor. He appeared to have life-threatening injuries to the upper body. He has since died from those injuries. They appear to be caused by a chainsaw.”
The victim received non-life-threatening injuries but her husband was pronounced dead at the hospital. A neighbor, Zury Bradcovich, said, “I could see that the lady was really confused and kind of like in shock, and her hands was probably injured, cut. Then I saw them finding the older gentleman and brought him to the garage, put him on the ground and he was bleeding tremendously from this part of his body. He looked really bad and they worked on him for maybe 10 to 15 minutes, and then they took him away.”
The names of the man and wife have not been released to respect the privacy of the wife.
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