The accomplished chair of a George Mason University program was stabbed to death, allegedly by his son, in their Vienna home Wednesday night, authorities said Thursday.

       Police have obtained second-degree murder warrants for Axel Buschmann, 26, in connection with the slaying of Michael Buschmann, who headed the Department of Bioengineering at the Northern Virginia university. The father was recently working on technology that would make mRNA vaccines, such as the ones for the coronavirus, cheaper and more widely available.

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       “We did lose a great mind,” said Paul Allvin, a vice president at George Mason.

       At about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, police received calls from multiple people reporting a person covered in blood walking down the road in the Vienna area, police said. Officers responded to the scene and began a conversation with Axel Buschmann, who then discarded a knife, police said.

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       Buschmann had multiple cuts to his neck and was taken to the hospital, police said. He is still being treated at the hospital and will be served with the murder warrants when he is released, police said.

       Police went to the home Buschmann shared with his parents in the 9800 block of Palace Green Way on Wednesday night for a welfare check based on statements he had made.

       Officers found Michael Buschmann inside and he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. He had suffered multiple stab wounds to the upper body. Alex Buschmann’s mother was not home at the time of the slaying.

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       Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a news conference that investigators had yet to determine a motive in the case. Davis said he worries the pandemic has placed strains on many families, leading to the spike in domestic-related homicides in the county.

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       He said officials needed to look at getting help to troubled individuals earlier, noting “the despair and the isolation and family dynamics surrounding covid” and “the way we have been living as a society.” Davis could not say to what degree that played a role in this incident.

       Michael Buschmann had been a professor at George Mason since 2017. He had previously worked at a university in Montreal and received a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He had won numerous awards in his field and been recruited to George Mason.

       “We are crushed and anguished by this shocking news,” Allvin said. It was unclear whether Axel Buschmann had retained an attorney.