Detectives from Fairfax County Police Department Major Crimes Bureau and Cyber and Forensics Bureau are actively investigating a deadly stabbing and shooting inside a Herndon home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way. The events occurred Friday morning, Feb. 24. No arrests have been made. 

Chief Kevin Davis, FCPD, provided an 11 a.m. press conference at a staging area near where the incidents occurred. “We have two adults who have been killed. One was shot and killed, and the other was stabbed and killed,” Davis said. He assured the community there was “no ongoing threat to public safety.”

A total of four adults were inside the home at the time of the double homicides, including the deceased woman’s husband and au pair, who were accounted for and in police custody. Davis said a little girl, later identified as a four-year-old, was also inside the home. She was safe, unharmed, and with the police. 

Davis added they are trying to work out the details, the sequence of the violent acts to  identify the person exactly responsible for the fatal shooting and the person exactly responsible for the fatal stabbing.”

There were no signs of forced entry, and the police did not believe the incident was a break-in or a home invasion. Crime scene and homicide detectives would continue to work through the case. “Firearms are recovered,” Davis said.

Police say they received a 911 call from occupants inside the single-family home. 

“A woman said her friend was hurt. A man then got on the line and stated he shot an unknown man who entered his home and stabbed a woman,” reported police. 

Patrol officers responded immediately and found four adults in the home when they arrived at the scene. Christine Banfield, 37, of Herndon, was in an upstairs bedroom suffering from stab wounds to the upper body. Joseph Ryan, 39, of Springfield, was found nearby suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body.

Banfield, who was still alive, was transported to a local hospital, where she died of stab wounds. Ryan was declared deceased at the scene.

Police say detectives continue to conduct interviews and process evidence recovered from the scene to determine the relationship between the involved parties and the circumstances that led up to the two fatalities. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct the autopsies in the coming days to determine the cause and manner of death.

Police ask anyone with information regarding these incidents to call their Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS.