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BURKE, Va. (AP) — A man in northern Virginia shot and killed his mother and nephew before killing himself in a domestic standoff that left two officers injured from a shootout, police said.
Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler said at a news conference Tuesday that officers were called Monday night to a home in Burke after the mother called 911. Roessler said the emergency dispatcher heard shots fired and alerted officers.
Roessler said several officers formed a "ballistic shield" as they tried to enter the home from a rear deck. The officers were confronted by the gunman, identified as Marcellus W. Bounds IV, 36, who fired a shotgun at the officers. Shrapnel deflected off the shield and injured two of them.
"The shield did what it was designed to do, and I thank God for that," Roessler said.
One officer returned fire as Bounds retreated into the home.
When officers did enter the home, they found the mother and nephew — Patricia Marie Bounds, 67, and Sean Patrick Bailes, 19 — dead from gunshot wounds, and the gunman was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Roessler said it was unclear if the officer who fired at the gunman struck him as well.
Roessler said the shooting stemmed from an "ongoing family issue that escalated." Another family member who was in the home when the attack began escaped to a neighbor's house.
The officers' injuries are not considered life threatening.
Police say a medical examiner will perform autopsies.
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