Three University of Virginia football players were identified Monday as the victims killed in a late-night shooting Sunday, with officials arresting a former member of the team who’s suspected of carrying out the attack.
Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis and D’Sean Perry died after a gunman opened fire on a bus filled with students returning from a field trip around 10:30 p.m., the school’s president, Jim Ryan, said during a news conference.
The suspect, a current student identified as Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., was taken into custody late Monday morning in connection with the rampage that also left two people wounded.
Jones faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony, police said.
Be on the lookout for this subject, he is considered armed and dangerous.
He was last seen wearing a burgundy jacket, blue jeans and red shoes; and he may be driving a black SUV, tag: TWX3580.#Tips: call 911 immediately, do not approach.@UVAPolice https://t.co/wWtH6bCw6F— FBI Richmond (@FBIRichmond) November 14, 2022
The wounded victims were not identified, but Ryan said one is hospitalized in good condition and the other is critical. They are both students.
Investigators have not announced a motive, nor have they determined whether Jones had a relationship with any of the victims.
“This is a message any leader never hopes to send, and I am devastated that this violence has visited the University of Virginia,” Ryan said in an announcement shared Monday morning. “This is a traumatic incident for everyone in our community.”
Jones was flagged earlier this year to the university’s threat assessment team, which received a report that he claimed to own a gun. Jones was also involved in a hazing investigation that revealed a prior “concealed weapon violation” in February 2021 that was never reported to the university, police said.
Jones hadn’t been on Virginia’s football team in over a year, Ryan said.
About 25 students were aboard the bus when the shooting occurred at a campus garage after a class trip to see a play, officials said. Two of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while another died after being hospitalized.
Davis and Chandler, both juniors, played wide receiver for the Virginia Cavaliers, while Perry, also a junior, played linebacker.
The university canceled classes Monday, while a multi-hour shelter-in-place order was lifted shortly before Jones’ arrest was confirmed. His arrest didn’t occur on campus, Ryan said.
“I am holding the victims, their families, and all members of the University of Virginia community in my heart today, and we will make plans to come together as a community to grieve as soon as the suspect is apprehended,” Ryan said.
Jones attended Petersburg High School, located about 90 miles northeast of the UVA campus in Charlottesville, before enrolling at University of Virginia, according to the local news station WRIC. He played running back and linebacker in high school.
His arrest followed an hours-long manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies that searched for him on and around the campus, police said.
Founded by Thomas Jefferson more than 200 years ago, the University of Virginia enrolls more than 20,000 students.
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But demonrats keeps saying it’s republicans who are violent and dangerous.
What’s the bet, NOW ITS KNOWN It was a fellow black, this story will FADE into darkness swiftly.
Black on black crime. If we could stop that we could cut the crime rate drastically.
I.A.W. U.S. Census & FBI (Table 43a)
Black males make up about 7% of the U.S. population but every year commit ~56% of all the murders and ~64% of all robberies in the U.S… Every year in the U.S. there are ~6,000 African-Americans men, women and children killed and 92% of them were killed by fellow African-Americans.
But this Woke government will not even acknowledge these facts, let alone do something about it.
Needless to say, “WE” can’t cut black on black crime and blacks are not at all interested. Look at how Black Lies Matter spends its time slagging police trying to deal with black criminals. Even when resisting arrest, not a hair on their head is to be harmed!
SO true. WE can want it all we want to. BUT THEY are the ones who need to change their culture. AND I unfortunately, just CANNOT see them doing so.. WITHOUT outside forces.