Gus Deeds, son of Democratic Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds, was released after undergoing a mental health evaluation just before the Tuesday incident that left him dead from an apparent gunshot wound and his father suffering from multiple stab wounds.
Dennis Cropper, executive director of the Rockbridge County Community Services Board, told the Richmond-Times Dispatch that Deeds was evaluated Monday at Bath County hospital under an emergency custody order. Under that order, Deeds could be held for up to four hours while it was determined whether to hold him for a longer period of time.
Deeds was ultimately released because there were no psychiatric beds available in the area, Cropper said.
Details about the incident, which occurred Tuesday morning in the lawmaker’s Millboro, Va. home, are still murky as police continue to investigate a motive. Police confirmed the state senator was stabbed multiple times around the head and torso while his son died at the scene from injuries associated with a gunshot wound.
The elder Deeds was able to speak with investigators and was being treated at being treated at University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Va., according to police.
