UVA shooting suspect part of field trip, school confirms
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. —The University of Virginia community mourned on Tuesday as new details emerged both about the three football players killed in a campus shooting this week and the criminal charges the suspect, a former player, faces.
“It feels like it’s a nightmare, to be honest with you. And I’m ready for somebody to pinch me and wake me up and say that this didn’t happen,” university head football coach Tony Elliott said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
University officials and police have said a student, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, joined a group of about two dozen others on a field trip Sunday from the Charlottesville campus to see a play in the nation’s capital, about 120 miles away. As their bus returned to campus, Mr. Jones opened fire, killing the three players and wounding two others, one of them also a football player, according to authorities.
Ryan Lynch, a 19-year-old sophomore student on the trip, told Philadelphia TV station KYW the suspect pulled out a gun as they arrived back and pushed one of the now-deceased football players, stating: “You guys are always messing with me.”
“They just kept coming, more and more gunshots — just wouldn’t stop,” Mr. Lynch said of the shooting, adding the gunman then “just sort of walked or skipped off the bus.”
The shooting set off panic and a 12-hour campus lockdown amid a manhunt before Mr. Jones was captured Monday outside Richmond, the state capital.
University President Jim Ryan said Monday authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the motive or circumstances of the shooting. At Tuesday’s news conference with Mr. Elliott, Athletic Director Carla Williams said she couldn’t address anything related to the ongoing criminal investigation. Authorities have also not discussed the firearm or firearms used — what type, how many or where they were obtained.
Mr. Jones faces an initial court appearance Wednesday. The prosecutor, Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney James Hingeley, said in an email Tuesday that besides previously announced second-degree murder and firearms charges, Mr. Jones faces two counts of malicious wounding and additional gun- related charges. Mr. Hingeley also identified the fourth and fifth surviving victims.
Online records did not list an attorney for Mr. Jones. If he is financially eligible for court-appointed counsel, an attorney will be appointed Wednesday, Mr. Hingeley wrote, adding there also could be a preliminary bail review. Jones remains in custody.
The university canceled classes Tuesday and made counselors and therapy dogs available as students visited temporary memorials on campus throughout the day, leaving flowers or other remembrances.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin ordered flags lowered statewide and made a campus visit, leaving flowers near a memorial at the football stadium. He said he came to pay “deep respects and hopefully take a moment to support these families.”
“It’s beyond anything any parent can possibly imagine. And the first lady and I, our hearts are just broken for these families,” said Mr. Youngkin.
The dead were identified as Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry.
Mr. Elliott said they were all “incredible young men with huge aspirations and extremely bright futures.” The coach said he and the players were now channeling their grief into celebrating the victims’ lives, adding, “We were able to transition from the pain to finding a little bit of joy in celebrating the lives of all of Lavel, D’Sean and Devin.”
Several religious services were planned Tuesday evening around Charlottesville, and a campus-wide event for the victims was in the works.
Ms. Williams said she and the coach will consult with players and make a decision soon about Saturday’s home football game against No. 23 Coastal Carolina.