Police: Oakton resident fatally shoots man who entered home with ‘large landscaping rock’

(Updated at 6:05 p.m. on 11/13/2022) A man was shot and killed in Oakton last night following an apparent fight with a homeowner that led the latter to retrieve a gun, police say.

The Fairfax County Police Department is currently investigating the fatal shooting in the 11400 block of Waples Mill Road as a self-defense case, Second Lt. James Curry told media yesterday. Preliminarily, there’s no indication that the two men involved in the incident knew each other, he said.

Officers were called to a reported shooting in the relatively secluded residential neighborhood just after 6 p.m.

Based on an initial investigation, police believe the homeowner was outside on his property when a man approached, later identified as 24-year-old Eduardo Santos from Herndon. They got into an altercation that became physical, leading the resident to retreat into his house.

“He retrieved a firearm from inside the home, and at some point, the man made entry into the home with an object that appears to be a large landscaping rock,” Curry said. “The homeowner then fired and shot the man. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

Officers are on scene of a fatal shooting at a home in the 11400 blk of Waples Mill Rd, Oakton. Man pronounced dead at the scene. All parties are accounted for & there is no apparent ongoing threat to the community. Detectives and a PIO are responding to the scene. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/joSLFTFsgw

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) November 9, 2022

The homeowner was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that appear to have come from the assault. Detectives believe Santos assaulted the homeowner with a stick, and the homeowner sustained the injuries when Santos tackled him and he fell.

His wife and two children were in the house at the time of the shooting, along with another adult who’s unrelated but also a resident of that home, according to police. They were not injured.

The FCPD said in an update on Friday (Nov. 11) that its officers had received two calls for service about Santos earlier on Wednesday.

“After canvassing the area, detectives determined Santos was in the area Wednesday afternoon for several hours,” the department said. “…On one occasion, officers found him, but no crime was established. Santos refused to speak to police, and he walked away from the area. During the second incident, Santos was not found.”

Police are still working to determine what led Santos to the house.

“As we can interview more folks, review the surveillance footage, we can get a better understanding of what happened outside, but there was an assault that occurred outside on the property that led the homeowner to retreat back into the home that led to our fatal shooting here,” Curry said.