Va. suspect arrested in fatal shooting of 3 football players
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A University of Virginia student shot and killed three members of the school’s football team as they returned to campus from a field trip, setting off panic and a 12-hour lockdown at the school until the suspect was captured Monday.
The violence that also wounded two students late Sunday erupted near a parking garage and closed much of the campus while police searched through the night for the gunman.
Officials got word during a midmorning news briefing that the suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones, 22, had been arrested.
“Just give me a moment to thank God, breathe a sigh of relief,” university police Chief Timothy Longo Sr. said after learning Jones was in custody.
The shooting happened just after 10:15 p.m. Sunday as a charter bus full of students returned from seeing a play in Washington.
University President Jim Ryan said authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting.
“The entire university community is grieving this morning,” Ryan said. “My heart is broken for the victims and their families and for all those who knew and loved them.”
Ryan identified the three students who were killed as Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis and D’Sean Perry. He said one of the wounded students was hospitalized in critical condition, and the other was in good condition.
The shooting touched off a manhunt, with authorities conducting a building-by-building search of the campus while students sheltered in place. The lockdown was lifted Monday morning.
Jones was taken into custody in suburban Richmond, police said.
Authorities obtained arrest warrants for Jones charging him with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony, Longo said.
Jones had once been on the football team, but had not been on the team for at least a year, Longo said. The school’s football website listed him as a team member during the 2018 season and said he did not play in any games.
Hours after Jones was arrested, first-year head football coach Tony Elliott sat alone outside the athletic building, at times with his head in his hands. He said the victims “were all good kids” and that he would talk more about them “when the time is right.”
Jones came to the attention of the university’s threat-assessment team this fall after a person unaffiliated with the school reported a remark Jones apparently made about possessing a gun, Longo said.
No threat was reported in conjunction with the concern about the weapon, but officials looked into it, following up with Jones’ roommate.
In addition, officials learned about a prior incident outside Charlottesville involving a weapons violation, Longo said. That incident was not reported to the university as it should have been, he said.