A George Mason University law professor and former U.S. Commerce Department official apparently shot and killed himself and his 12-year-old son attheir McLean home following a police standoff Thursday night.
Fairfax County police found the bodies of William Lash III, 45, and his son in a first-floor bedroom of the residence at 1433 Pathfinder Lane around 3:50 a.m. Friday. The discovery came about six hours after hearing two successive gunshots from the building, police spokesman Richard Henry said.
“It appears to be a murder-suicide, at this point in the investigation,” he said.
Officers first responded to the residence on a domestic dispute call from Lash’s wife around 10 p.m., Henry said. A tactical team and hostage negotiators arrived on the scene shortly after, but were unable to contact anyone inside the house through the night.
Both Lash and his son were found close by each other with shotgun wounds to their upper bodies. It’s as yet unclear why Lash would kill himself and his son, a special-needs student who would have been a seventh-grader at Longfellow Middle School in the fall. The Examiner is withholding the boy’s name out of respect for his family.
Lash, a former Bush appointee, had a long and distinguished career as an academic. He joined GMU’s faculty in 1994, taking a hiatus in 2001 to serve as assistant U.S. commerce secretary for market access and compliance.
He returned to the law school in 2005.
“The university and the law school mourn the shocking and baffling death of our friend Bill Lash,” said GMU spokesman Dan Walsch. “We are heartbroken and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Lash served from 1998 to 2001 on an advisory board for the Cato Institute, a D.C.-based libertarian think- tank. Cato spokesman Jamie Dettmer said he was remembered by his colleagues as a “very jovial, very expansive” man.
The U.S. Commerce department referred to Lash in a statement as “a passionate, committed and hard working individual who was very much loved and respected by his colleagues.”
In McLean, the pleasant, verdant neighborhood was bustling with press crews Friday afternoon. There was no visual sign — not even police tape — of what had happened the night before.
Jake Taylor, 29, who was with his parents next door during the incident, called the events a “big shock.”
“You never expect anything like this to happen,” Taylor said.
