Virginia Senator Creigh Deeds Stabbed By Son - 11/20/2013 -

• Virginia Senator Creigh Deeds Stabbed By Son - 11/20/2013 - 

• Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds' condition improves - CNN - 11/20/2013 - 

• Two nearby hospitals had room for Deeds's son on Monday - Washington Post - 11/20/2013 - 

Creigh Deeds' son Gus (blue shirt) stands behind his father in 2009

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By Sky News US Team

The son of a Virginia state senator stabbed his father multiple times before committing suicide by shooting himself in the politician's home, police have said.

Democratic Senator Creigh Deeds was hospitalised in a critical condition, later upgraded to fair, after sustaining stab wounds to his head and chest in an apparent attack by his 24-year-old son Gus.

Virginia police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said authorities were still investigating the attack, but it appeared to be an attempted murder and suicide.

She said Mr Deeds had been able to walk away from his home to a nearby road where a cousin who was driving by happened to spot the senator.

Creigh Deeds and his son Gus embrace at a rally in 2009

They then drove to the cousin's home and called 911.

Police sent to the senator's house found the body of his son, Gus Deeds, with a gunshot wound.

Ms Geller said investigators were still trying to figure out a motive for the attack and the sequence of events.

"It's a very complex investigation," she said.

"We are still piecing together the exact circumstances that led up to the altercation and then followed afterwards, but based on the evidence we have right now we are looking into this as an attempted murder and suicide."

She said police had spoken to the senator, but would not reveal what he said.

Ms Geller added authorities were not looking for any suspects.

Gus Deeds, one of the senator's four adult children, had reportedly been evaluated for a mental health issue on Monday.

But he was sent home after the clinic was unable to find a bed at a psychiatric facility.

President Barack Obama joins Mr Deeds for a 2009 campaign rally in Norfolk

Gus Deeds dropped out of the College of William and Mary last month, where he had been enrolled on and off since 2007, a school spokesman said.

He took a semester off in 2009 to join his father on the campaign trail.

Mr Deeds, 55, was elected to the House of Delegates in 1991 and to the state Senate in 2001.

The former Bath County prosecutor ran for attorney general in 2005, but lost to Republican Bob McDonnell, who defeated him a second time in the race for governor in 2009.

Mr Deeds and his wife Pam divorced shortly after the 2009 campaign.

Gus Deeds

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