Family, Friends Say Man Shot to Death in Virginia Home Suffered Mental Break

A man shot to death in a Virginia home recently had a mental break and needed help, according to family and friends.

Eduardo Santos, 24, had the mental break about a week before the fatal shooting at a home in Oakton Wednesday, family and friends said.

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“He started to scream,” friend Yesika Gaitan said. “He started to run out. He started to say that someone was following him to kill him.”

Efforts to help him included trying to get him committed to a psychiatric facility, but he ran away, family and friends said. They reported him missing and searched for hours before learning he’d been jailed for 24 hours on charges of public intoxication.

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He took off again upon release, before they could get to him.

For unknown reasons, Santos attacked a homeowner on Waples Mill Road with a stick and a landscaping rock about 6 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Santos had entered the house when the homeowner shot him.

Santos had been in the area for several hours Wednesday afternoon before the shooting, police said. They said they received two calls describing him as acting suspicious. When officers found him, he was not committing a crime and refused to speak to them before he walked away from the area.