USA TODAY International Edition
UVa player Mike Hollins released from hospital
A Virginia running back has been discharged from the hospital a week after he was shot and three of his teammates were killed on a bus following a class field trip.
The mother of University of Virginia football player Mike Hollins, Brenda Hollins, tweeted Monday morning: “Mike has been discharged!!! HALLELUJAH I want to thank everyone for their prayers, text messages, and calls. This has truly been a test of faith and I’m grateful. GOD has shown me he is faithful! Please continue praying for Mike as he recovers and settles into his new life. Please continue to pray for the Chandler, Davis, Perry families. They need us!!! GOD is amazing!”
UVa football players Devin
Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were killed on the night of Nov. 13. Hollins was shot after he returned to a charter bus to help his teammates and has undergone multiple surgeries. Hollins only recently learned of their deaths.
Doctors advised his mother not to tell her son about the death of his teammates because they wanted to keep his vitals stable heading into his second surgery.
Hollins was especially close with Perry, who convinced him to go on the field trip with the group to see a play about Emmett Till in Washington, D. C.
On the night of the shooting, Hollins told his mother he thought balloons were popping, until he realized a student had a gun. Mike Hollins was one of the first people off the bus, but he said only two others followed him. He directed the students to keep running and went back on the bus to help others.
Mike Hollins then came face- to- face with the shooter, 22- year- old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., who he said pointed a handgun at him. Hollins was shot in the back while trying to run away. The bullet exited his stomach.
A witness told police the gunman targeted specific victims, shooting one as he slept, a prosecutor said in court Wednesday during Jones’ first court appearance. Authorities have not addressed a possible motive, and neither Jones nor his attorney addressed the charges in court.