The incident occurred in the Springfield Hills Drive area at about 3:30pm Wednesday as police were alerted to an ongoing assault.

As they arrived at the scene, the suspected perpetrator went into hiding inside the house.

Shortly afterward, an officer was able to locate the suspect inside the garage, a police spokeswoman said, noting that his injuries were “consistent with that being caused by a chainsaw.” Upon raiding the house, the officers found the man dead from what appeared to be self-inflicted chainsaw wounds.

“Male suspect passed away from self-inflicted injuries that appear to be from a chainsaw. Investigation underway,” Fairfax police reported on Twitter.

The spokeswoman added that the suspect hit the woman several times with the non-bladed edge of an ax.

ABC’s correspondent on the scene reported that the man, aged 75, was armed with an ax when he rushed at his 70-year-old wife, aiming at her face and neck during what appeared to be a domestic brawl. The man’s step-daughter managed to overpower him, forcing the attacker off the woman and taking away the ax. The man then went into the house, where the arriving police found him.

On what appears to be a record of an officer’s radio call, he can be heard repeatedly and agitatedly saying: “Get me a trauma kit!”

The female victim was admitted to hospital with lacerations, with police saying that her injuries were not life-threatening.