3 UVA Football Players Killed In Shooting, Suspect Apprehended: Police

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Three football players at the University of Virginia were shot to death on campus in Charlottesville late Sunday night, according to officials.

The suspect in the shooting, identified by the university as UVA student Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, was apprehended around 11 a.m. on Monday, officials said. He has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder.

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Jones was arrested in a residential neighborhood in Henrico County, about 70 miles east of Charlottesville. Police said Jones was taken into custody "without incident," the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

University officials noted that Jones had come to the university's attention earlier this fall when a person not affiliated with the university reported that Jones said he was in possession of a gun.

The UVA football players who were killed are identified as Devin Chandler, D’Sean Perry and Lavel Davis. Two other students were injured in the incident, UVA officials said Monday.

Chandler was a junior at UVA, a wide receiver and from Huntersville, North Carolina; Perry was a junior from Miami, a linebacker; and Davis was a junior wide receiver from Dorchester, South Carolina, according to the UVA football team.

Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Monday, UVA lifted a shelter-in-place order "based on a thorough search on and around grounds," UVA Emergency Management said in a tweet, adding that "a large police presence will remain."

On Sunday night, gunfire was reported at a parking garage on Culbreth Road on the north end of campus at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, the University of Virginia Office of Emergency Management said. In an alert, officials directed students to leave the area. At 10:40 p.m., students received another update urging them to shelter in place.

The shooting occurred on a bus of students who were returning to campus from a field trip to Washington, D.C., to see a play. Jones had joined about 25 other students on the school trip. When the students returned to campus on a bus, Jones opened fire for reasons that remain unknown, UVA Chief of Police Tim Longo said at Monday's news conference.

Two of the students — Perry and Chandler — were found dead inside the bus, officials said. Davis died at a hospital. Officials noted that it is unclear at this time if Jones was one of the students on the bus.

Classes at UVA were canceled on Monday. Charlottesville City Schools and Albemarle County School District schools also were closed for the day. Monday's UVA men's basketball game against Northern Iowa at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville has been canceled.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Monday morning in a tweet that Virginia State Police are "fully coordinating with UVA police department and local authorities."

Jones grew up in the Essex Village and Mosby Court housing complexes in Richmond, according to a 2018 Richmond Times-Dispatch story. He then played football at Varina and Petersburg High Schools and graduated from Petersburg in 2018.

Jones played linebacker and running back at Petersburg High, earning honorable mention all-conference honors as a senior, according to a football biography on the UVA website. He belonged to the National Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society, The Washington Post reported.

Earlier this semester, Longo said Jones “came to the attention of the University of Virginia’s threat assessment team.”

UVA's Office of Student Affairs reported to a threat assessment team that they received information that Jones had made a comment about possessing a gun to a person who was unaffiliated with the university, Longo said at the news conference.

The Office of Student Affairs followed up on the tip and made efforts to contact Jones. The office did succeed in speaking with Jones’ roommate, who did not report seeing the presence of a weapon, according to Longo.

Also, in February 2021, Jones was charged after an incident off-campus that involved a concealed weapon violation. When Jones did not report the charge to UVA, the university took action through its judiciary counsel, a case against him that is still pending, according to Longo.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said he was "heartbroken to hear of another Virginia community devastated by gun violence."

"Praying for the UVA community and closely monitoring the situation," Kaine said in a tweet.

Here is a message that UVA President Jim Ryan sent out to the campus community Monday morning:

To the University Community,

I am writing to provide an update to the various community safety alerts the University has issued over the last several hours.

Around 10:30 p.m. last night, there was a shooting on Grounds. One of our students, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., is suspected to have committed the shooting. The suspect remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous. Multiple law enforcement agencies are coordinating to find and apprehend him. He was last seen wearing a burgundy jacket, blue jeans, and red shoes, and he may be driving a black SUV with VA license plate number TWX3580. First and foremost, please continue to follow the guidance you receive though the UVA alert system, which is currently to shelter in place.

As of this writing, I am heartbroken to report that the shooting has resulted in three fatalities; two additional victims were injured and are receiving medical care. We are working closely with the families of the victims, and we will share additional details as soon as we are able. Our University Police Department has joined forces with other law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect, and we will keep our community apprised of developments as the situation evolves.

This is a message any leader hopes never to have to send, and I am devastated that this violence has visited the University of Virginia. This is a traumatic incident for everyone in our community, and we have cancelled classes for today (Monday, Nov. 14). At this point only designated essential employees should report to work on Monday (all remote employees should continue to work remotely). If you are unsure of your status, please contact your supervisor.

We will continue to provide updates as the situation unfolds. Please know we have support available if you need it. Students may call Counseling and Psychological Services at 434-243-5150, 24 hours a day. Information about CAPS is available on the Student Health and Wellness website. Faculty and staff can find a similar resource through the Faculty and Employee Assistance Program by calling 434-243-2643 or by emailing the office via the FEAP website.

For those who have questions about these events, including how to establish contact with family members or friends who are here on Grounds, please call the UVA Emergency Hotline at 877-685-4836.

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.

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