VIRGINIA NEWS – 88-year-old man under arrest in Fairfax County for shooting and killing his wife

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

An 87-year-old woman in Virginia was shot to death in her home early Friday morning. The woman was shot to death after a domestic dispute led to gunfire. Later that day police arrested Marilyn Sommer’s 88-year-old husband in connection with the murder. In a press release from Friday night, the police said that the preliminary investigation found Marilyn Sommers’s husband Douglas Sommer, 88, had fatally shot his wife inside their home.

Officials said that the shooting happened after an argument broke out inside the home which was located on the 13000 block of Pennypacker Lane in Chantilly, around 6 AM. Captain Kent Bailey, who is a commander with the Fairfax County Police Department, said, “Officers arrived on scene and located an adult female with gunshot wounds to the upper body at a news conference. He went on to say that Marilyn Sommers, “was declared deceased at the scene. Bailey reassured the community saying that there was no threat to public safety and said that the shooting was an isolated incident. Sommer is currently being held without bond at a Fairfax County detention center where he was also charged with second-degree murder and weapons-related charges. First responders were called to the scene after a call came in from the couple’s daughter who was inside the home when the shooting unfolded. An investigation into the shooting has begun and detectives have begun working to determine what the argument was and how it led to a shooting.