Three players were shot and killed, during a football game at the University of Virginia
Hours after three students were killed and two were injured in a shooting rampage on a charter bus returning from a field trip, the University of Virginia lifted a campuswide lockdown Monday, according to authorities.
The university president, Jim Ryan, confirmed that D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr., and Devin Chandler, all football players at the school, were among those killed. A public announcement of the injured victims has not been made.
At a press conference on Monday, Ryan said, “This is a sad, shocking, and tragic day for our UVA community.” He added that authorities did not yet have a “full understanding” of the shooting’s circumstances.
Suspect Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. played football at the University of Virginia, though he never played a game. Henrico County Police said in a statement that he was taken into custody at around 11 a.m. on Monday, roughly 75 miles southeast of Charlottesville. According to Ryan, Jones is one of the 22,000 students at the university.
Jones is charged with second-degree murder three times and handgun possession three times.
After the shooting, a 12-hour shelter-in-place order was issued for the entire campus. Chief of Police at the University of California, Berkeley, Timothy Longo, was briefed on the fact that Jones was in police custody.
Longo requested “Just give me a moment to thank God, breathe a sigh of relief,”
The arrest’s circumstances were not immediately made public.
According to Longo, shots were fired on the northern edge of campus at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday. An immediate warning was issued to students by the school: “ACTIVE ATTACKER firearm reported in area of Culbreth Road. RUN HIDE FIGHT.”
Ryan promised that students would have access to mental health services like counselling. On Monday and Tuesday, the University of Virginia called off classes and postponed a scheduled basketball game.
As Ryan put it in an open letter that went viral online,“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.”
The ATF has confirmed that they have agents assisting with the investigation. The Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, has stated that he and his wife, Suzanne, are “praying for the UVA community” and that state police are working with local authorities to address the situation.
