Former Bush Administration Official Kills Self After Shooting Son
Father Kills Self After Shooting Son
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...400502_pf.html
By Tom Jackman, Stephanie McCrummen and Daniela Deane
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 14, 2006; 3:28 PM
A George Mason University law professor shot his 12-year-old son dead and then killed himself at their home in McLean after an apparent domestic dispute with his wife, police said Friday.
Fairfax County police identified the victims as William Lash III, 45, a GMU faculty member and a former Assistant Secretary of Commerce, and his 12-year-old son William Lash IV, known as "Will."
Police found the two before dawn Friday after hearing gunshots from the house hours before. They were called to the residence in west McLean by Lash's wife, they said.
Police said in a statement that a "preliminary investigation indicates this case is a murder/suicide with William Lash III shooting his son, William Lash IV, and then himself."
A Fairfax County police spokesman said police were called to the 1400 block of Pathfinder Lane at about 9:53 p.m. yesterday and were told that Lash was barricaded inside the home with his son.
Police said the man's wife, the mother of the slain boy, had called police following a domestic dispute with her husband. Neighbors said the boy was autistic. A George Mason University colleague and neighbors described Lash as devoted to his son, often taking him to Nationals baseball games.
Police said they heard two gunshots fired inside the renovated Cape Cod with blue siding minutes after they arrived at the scene following the mother's call. Negotiators tried in vain to make contact with Lash for hours before entering the home at 3:45 a.m. and discovering the bodies in a first-floor bedroom.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez issued a statement this afternoon that said: "Bill was a passionate, committed and hard working individual who was much loved and respected by his colleagues at Commerce. He was a vivacious, expansive, and tenacious Assistant Secretary who served this department and his country with dedication and extraordinary effectiveness. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."
"This just doesn't belong to the normal range of human experience and we're all just heartbroken for his family, his community and for ourselves," said Daniel D. Polsby, dean of the George Mason University Law School.
The tranquil residential neighborhood was invaded by SWAT police officers, who surrounded the house after the gunshots were fired. Residents were told to turn their lights off and stay in their basements.
Police said Lash and his son had been shot in the upper body with a shotgun that was found nearby.
The mother stayed outside with police during the incident, police said.
"Bill was always a very exuberant person. He took a great deal of relish in intellectual discussion and political combat and I knew him as a very fine and decent person," said Steve Eagle, a GMU law professor and colleague of Lash.
The George Mason Web site said Lash returned to GMU's Law school in the fall of 2005 after having served as Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance in Commerce from 2001-2005.
Before joining GMU's law faculty in 1994, the Web site said, Lash taught law at St. Louis University and Western New England College. He had also been a senior associate in the litigation department of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, & Jacobson in Washington, and counsel to the U.S. International Trade Commission. It said Lash earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1982 and his law degree from Harvard University in 1985.
