Reports: Prominent Virginia Lawmaker Stabbed, Son Shot Dead

By Mark Memmott / NPR

Published November 19, 2013 at 4:34 AM PST

This story was published more than 10 years ago.

Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds in 2009, when he was the Democratic nominee in his state's gubernatorial race.

Creigh Deeds, a Democratic state senator in Virginia who was his party's 2009 gubernatorial nominee, "is in critical condition at the University of Virginia Medical Center after he was stabbed in his home Tuesday morning," Richmond's WRIC-TV reports.

The station and the Richmond Times-Dispatch say that Deeds' son Gus is dead from a gunshot wound, citing law enforcement sources. The Times-Dispatch writes that "authorities said they are trying to determine the sequence of events at the Deeds home in Bath County," in the central part of the state along the border with West Virginia.

Deeds, 55, lost the 2009 race to Republican Robert McDonnell by almost 17.5 percentage points. Gus Deeds was in his early- to mid-20s, according to reporting from the Times-Dispatch.

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Update at 11:10 a.m. ET. News Conference Soon:

Virginia State Police plan a noon ET news conference, according to WWBT-TV and other news outlets. Authorities have not yet publicly confirmed that the person found dead at the home was Deeds' son.