U.S. shootings claim lives of 7 students

America reels again from senseless gun violence

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Seven students have died in separate shootings in and outside universities in Virginia and Idaho, United States.

Police found four dead students Sunday in a home near the University of Idaho campus.

Officers went to the home in the town of Moscow in response to a report of an unconscious person.

“It is with deep sadness that I share with you that the university was notified today of the death of four University of Idaho students living off-campus believed to be victims of homicide,” University of Idaho president Scott Green said in a statement on Monday.

Meanwhile, a former US college football player was arrested Monday and charged with murder for reportedly gunning down three members of the current University of Virginia team.

Police chief Timothy Longo told a news conference that a 22-year-old UVA student, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr, had been taken into custody on suspicion of carrying out the shooting Sunday night and faces murder charges.

Police in Henrico County said Jones was arrested “without incident” Monday morning in a suburb of Richmond, about 120 kilometers southeast of the UVA campus in Charlottesville.

The shooting took place on a bus while students were returning from a field trip, according to UVA president Jim Ryan, who said all three of those who died were members of the school’s football team.

Two other students were wounded, Ryan said, and one of them was in critical condition.

“This is a sad, shocking and tragic day for our UVA community,” Ryan said. “My heart is broken for the victims and their families.”

A former US college football player was arrested Monday and charged with murder.

The campus in Charlottesville, about 160 kilometers southwest of Washington, was locked down for hours while police searched for Jones, a former UVA football player listed on the Cavaliers’ 2018 roster as a first-year running back.

Longo said Jones had previously been brought to the attention of the school’s “threat assessment” team after a report that he possessed a gun but no weapon was discovered.

The three players who died were identified as Cavaliers wide receivers Lavel Davis Jr and Devin Chandler, and linebacker D’Sean Perry.