Deeds critically wounded; son dead from gunshot

[Capt. Obvious]

Source: Richmond Times Dispatch

Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, is in critical condition after being stabbed in his home and his son Gus is dead from a gunshot wound, law enforcement sources told the Richmond Times-Dispatch this morning.

Deeds is being treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Authorities said they are trying to determine the sequence of events at the Deeds home in Bath County early today.

Further details were not immediately available.

Read more: http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/sen-deeds-critically-wounded-son-dead-from-gunshot-wound/article_431e61ca-5128-11e3-944a-001a4bcf6878.html

---

Woah

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. Holy crap

someone disgruntled over the election?

[lostincalifornia]

2. Why would the son be a victim in a "disgruntled election"

[VanillaRhapsody]

3. Maybe the son was the disgruntled one...

tried to stab Dad...Dad shot him in self defense

[iandhr]

4. How about we wait for facts to come in...

... instead of making wild speculations.

[VanillaRhapsody]

5. Oh good grief....we are ON a political website...

I am not a reporter...I can speculate.

[Tanuki]

6. Per witnesses on the scene (though not officially confirmed)

the son stabbed Deeds and then shot himself

http://www.therecorderonline.com/news/2013-11-14/Top_News/Shooting_stabbing_occurs_in_Millboro.html

[TBF]

7. Mental illness can be so frightening -

hope the guy makes it. Sad story.

[snooper2]

8. Maybe he was just really pissed off?

[liberalhistorian]

13. Jeezus, broadbrush and

stereotype much? Good God.

[TBF]

30. Just to update you in case you didn't see the news -

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57613029-504083/report-deeds-son-had-mental-health-exam-hours-before-attack/

[Iggo]

15. So can rage.

[TBF]

20. Yes I suppose so -

I tend to think of going so far as killing to mean something deeper but you're correct of course that sometimes there are the crimes of passion.

Better to hold off judgment and wait for additional information to be released.

[loli phabay]

12. damn. n/t

[WilliamPitt]

9. This report says his son stabbed him and then shot himself.

http://www.nbc12.com/story/24009418/sen-deeds-stabbed-son-killed-in-bath-county-home

Awful.

[underpants]

11. That was the text I just got

[GladRagDahl]

14. I just heard this

I've met Sen. Deeds and I hope he pulls through this. Losing him would be a big blow to the state.

[Blue_Tires]

16. Holy damn....

How could this ever happen??

[perdita9]

17. Why stab someone when there's a gun available?

I'll be interested to see the details on this story.

[WilliamPitt]

19. .

[jtuck004]

22. Because you are really, really angry, and it's much more personal. n/t

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. Linking to Daily Progress

BREAKING: Sen. Creigh Deeds stabbed and son shot dead UPDATED
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/breaking-sen-creigh-deeds-stabbed-and-son-shot-dead-updated/article_0e1e6ba2-512b-11e3-b0ef-001a4bcf6878.html

Posted: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 9:58 am | Updated: 11:16 am, Tue Nov 19, 2013.

....
“Senator Creigh Deeds is in critical condition at the UVA Hospital. He is being closely monitored and is in intensive care,” said Delegate David J. Toscano, C-Charlottesville. Toscano was reported by staff to be at UVa Hospital to support the Deeds family.

“This is a terrible tragedy. Senator Deeds was very close to his son Gus, and has taken herculean efforts to help him over the years,” Toscano said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Creigh and the family at this difficult time.”
....

{Deeds’ son, Austin Creigh “Gus” Deeds} was the 2007 valedictorian for Bath County High School, according to the Bath County Recorder. He attended the William and Mary, according to news reports.

Deeds had a near perfect 3.96 grade point average in high school and the highest class average in 10 different subjects at the school and held the school record for the most perfect scores on state’s Standards of Learning tests with six 600s, according to The Record.

[NutmegYankee]

21. OMG! I helped campaign for him back in the 00's.

[dgibby]

23. Creigh Deeds is my Senator,

and is very well liked and respected in this area. This is so sad. He was stabbed multiple times in the head, face, and upper torso, according to reports from WDBJ in Roanoke, Va.

In other news in the Commonwealth, a male Liberty University student was shot and killed by a Liberty U. security officer near a women's residence after he attacked the security officer. Incident is being investigated by Lynchburg police. (WDBJ, Roanoke, Va.).

Not a good day for my beloved Virginia.

[ehrnst]

24. Health officials said that no psychiatric bed was available for Son and so he was released yesterday

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/virginia-state-senator-creigh-deeds-critical-condition-stabbing-article-1.1521697#ixzz2l7aImlng

[Beaverhausen]

27. and there it is

my god, that's beyond tragic.

[SunSeeker]

25. So sad. And another gun suicide.

He'd still be alive if there was no gun in the house.

[Ranchemp.]

26. You don't know that,

he could have very well sliced his own throat.
The problem here was that because of no bed available, he was released from the hospital, the solution in this case would have been better mental health services.

[SunSeeker]

29. Yes I do. It is pretty fucking hard to slice your own throat.

Even if he had somehow managed to slice his own throat or, more likely, cut his wrists, the paramedics probably would have been able to save him, like they were able to save his father. But when you swallow a gun and blow your brains out, there is nothing to do but mop up.

Yes, he might have eventually killed himself one day, but he would have made it through THAT day, and gotten a chance to be treated for his mental illness.

Also, if you take the gun away, people don't just choose another method, they actually tend not to commit suicide. That is because the gun is not there making suicidal thoughts easy to act on.

Having a gun around makes otherwise treatable depression far more fatal.

I am a firm believer in people being able to end their life if there is no hope (terminally ill cancer patients in horrible pain, etc.), but it seems the vast majority of suicides are the tragic result of untreated mental illness or depression. Committing suicide due to mental illness or depression is not a choice--it is the mental illness consuming you. Having a gun in the house makes suicide over 5 times more likely.

http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/more-guns-more-suicides/

And as noted in another DU post, at one point the Israeli Defense Forces changed policy, so that soldiers leave their guns on base rather than bringing them home with them over the weekend. After the change, suicide rates dropped by 40%, mostly attributed to a drop in gun suicides on weekends. In particular, there was no significant change in suicide rates during the week, so it's not the case that the timing of the policy coincided with some other change which made soldiers less suicidal overall. It was a clear case of means reduction.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/117295436 (citing http://gsoa.feinheit.ch/media/medialibrary/2010/12/Lubin_10.pdf )

You're 43 times more likely to be killed by your own gun (as Adam Lanza's mother was) than by an intruder's. You are unlikely to have an intruder. But you are very likely to get drunk, get depressed, get in a fight with someone in your house, or have your little kid find your gun. That's how people get killed. Having a gun in the house makes it far more likely that you or your loved one will get their head blown off.

Arthur Kellermann and Donald Reay. "Protection or Peril? An Analysis of Firearm Related Deaths in the Home." (The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 314, no. 24, June 1986, pp. 1557-60.)

[Still Waters]

28. This is so tragic

Can you imagine what Monday was like for Creigh and Gus Deeds? Gus needs help, Creigh tries to get him help, and they are told there are no beds and to go home? I just find this all so sad. And I made the mistake of reading some of the comments attached to the stories at CNN and some of the newspaper sites. Some of these remarks were staggering in their callousness and lack of empathy. Frankly, I am very shaken at the level of cruelty in our society.