Fairfax County police say a Springfield man who assaulted his wife during a domestic dispute took his own life with a chainsaw.

Police say they received a call about an assault with a weapon at around 3:30 p.m Wednesday and officers responded to a home in the 7500 block of Springfield Hills Drive to investigate.

According to Fairfax County police, a family member arrived at the home, but could not open the front door. The female relative pushed the door in and saw the 70-year-old man attacking his 76-year-old wife with the blunt side of a hatchet in the foyer of the house.

"The family member was able to rescue the victim, bring her outside," said Fairfax County Police Officer Reem Awad. "At which point, the male suspect did follow outside and a struggle ensued over that ax. 911 was called at that point and we responded."

When officers arrived, they set up a perimeter around the house after the man went inside alone and shut the door.

"One officer was able to see inside the garage where the suspect was located on the floor," said Awad. "He appeared to have life-threatening injuries to the upper body. He has since died from those injuries. They appear to be caused by a chainsaw."


"I could see that the lady was really confused and kind of like in shock, and her hands was probably injured, cut," said neighbor Zury Bradcovich. "Then I saw them finding the older gentlemen and brought him to the garage, put him on the ground and he was bleeding tremendously from this part of his body. He looked really bad and they worked on him for maybe 10 to 15 minutes, and then they took him away."

Police say the husband was pronounced dead at the hospital. The female victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to survive.

Police continue to investigate the incident.