‘Butchering his family’: Officer kills man who fatally stabbed wife and daughter, as son-in-law fights to live, Fairfax Co. police say

Matt Small | msmall@wtop.com
February 23, 2026, 10:21 AM


Blood stained knife found at the scene ...
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A man in his early 50s stabbed his adult daughter and wife to death and critically injured his son-in-law before police shot him to death in Fairfax County, Virginia, Monday morning.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said two officers responded to a garden-style apartment in the 3900 block of Persimmon Drive, near the intersection of Pickett Road and Route 236 in the Mantua neighborhood, and encountered “a bloodbath of a scene” as the man, armed with a curved 10-inch knife, was stabbing his son-in-law.

Davis said an officer shot and killed the man after repeatedly commanding him to drop the knife.

Davis said this is a case of a man “butchering his family.” He added that there had been no previous domestic calls to the residence.

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WTOP’s LaDawn Black contributed to this report.

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Matt Small
Matt joined WTOP News at the start of 2020, after contributing to Washington’s top news outlet as an Associated Press journalist for nearly 18 years.
msmall@wtop.com