3 University of Virginia football players killed; former player in custody, cops say

Three students were killed and two others were injured during a shooting late Sunday, Nov. 13, on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, according to campus police.

School officials identified the three dead as Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry. All three are juniors on the football team.

Davis was a wide receiver from Ridgeville, South Carolina. Perry was a linebacker from Miami, Florida. Chandler was a wide receiver from Huntersville, North Carolina. He had recently been living in Virginia Beach, school officials said.

UVA student Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. is a suspect in the shootings and he was taken into custody at an off-campus location on Monday, officials said. Jones is from Petersburg, Virginia, and was a member of the university’s football team as a freshman in 2018. However, he did not play in any games.

Jones was arrested “without incident” around 11 a.m. Monday on Edgelawn Street in the Richmond area, according to a release from the Henrico Police County Police Division.

He is being charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a firearm on commission of a felony, school officials said.

Identities of the two wounded students have not been released. One is in critical condition at UVA Medical Center and the other is in good condition, school officials said.

Jones was described as “armed and dangerous” before being located.

A motive for the shootings has not been released.

The incident happened around 10:15 p.m. on campus in the three-story Culbreth Garage, which is across from the school’s drama building.

Investigators say the students were shot inside a chartered bus that was carrying 25 students to and from a play in Washington, D.C. The play was a class field trip, officials said. The students were returning when the shooting occurred, officials said.

Perry and Chandler were found dead and Davis died at a hospital, officials said.

Investigators have not said if Jones was one of those students involved in the field trip.

The official Twitter page of Virginia Athletics tweeted images of students gathering to pay tribute to the three players Monday night.

“There are no words to describe this tremendous loss to our UVA Football family,” the department posted. “Lavel, Devin, D’Sean — you will all be dearly missed and we will never forget the impact you had on our team and community.”

Jones had been the subject of two ”Threat Assessment Team” reviews, one involving a tip that he had a handgun and another involving “a hazing” incident, campus police said.

“Through the course of the Threat Assessment Team’s investigation, we learned of a prior criminal incident involving a concealed weapon violation that occurred outside the city of Charlottesville in February of 2021,” police said.

“He’s required as a student of the University of Virginia to report that and he never did. And so the university has taken appropriate administrative charges through the university’s Judiciary Council and that matter is still pending adjudication.”

UVA President Jim Ryan said he was “heartbroken” in a statement posted on Twitter, and said the school is “working closely with the families of the victims.”

“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,” he said.

“This is a traumatic incident for everyone in our community and we have canceled classes for today (Monday, Nov. 14).”

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