UVA shootings: Christopher Jones ‘targeted’ football players but motive still unknown, court hears

At least two people were injured during a mass shooting at the University of Virginia late Sunday night where three people were confirmed to have been shot dead.

Those two victims, the university’s president Jim Ryan said in a statement shared Monday morning, are receiving medical care, but he did not provide the identity of any of the individuals harmed noting that the school is “working closely with the families of the victims.”

D’Sean Perry, a 22-year-old football player for the University of Virginia, was the first victim killed in the assault on Sunday night to be identified by a family member.

The 22-year-old’s father, Sean Perry, told The Daily Progress that he and his wife, Happy Perry, were flying to Charlottesville from their son’s hometown of Miami on Monday.

D’Sean made two tackles on Saturday in the school’s game against Pittsburgh and appeared in seven of UVA’s games during the 2021 season. In 2020, the 6ft 3in linebacker and defensive end played in two of the team’s 10 games and made a collegiate debut in a win over Abilene Christian, according to the school’s athletics website.

Before coming to UVA, the Miami-native played as a linebacker, defensive line and tight end at Gulliver Prep, a private co-ed school in Miami-Dade County. In 2018, he was named the South Florida Conference’s 2018 Defensive Player of the Year and he finished his senior season that same year with 89 tackles, 16.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and three interceptions.

The athletics website for the university describes him as contributing to Gulliver Prep’s 8-4 record and a playoff berth in 2018, which the school lost in the regional semi-final.

In addition to football, the proven athlete also played on his high school basketball team.

A University of Virginia star linebacker has been identified as one of the three victims allegedly killed by a fellow student and former college football player in a mass shooting on the campus grounds.

D’Sean Perry, 22, died on Sunday night when suspected gunman Christopher Darnell Jones allegedly opened fire around a parking garage on the university’s main campus along Culbreth Road in Charlottesville.

Perry’s grieving father Sean Perry confirmed his son’s death to local paper The Daily Progress on Monday morning and said that he and the victim’s mother Happy were flying from their hometown of Miami to Virginia.

Rachel Sharp has more here.

A second victim in the mass shooting that took place at the University of Virginia on Sunday night was identified as Lavel David Jr.

The wide receiver for the school was one of two football players killed on Sunday night, according to a tweet from his cousin, Newberry College assistant football coach Sean Lampkin, The Richmond Times-Dispatch first reported.

Lavel David Jr, one of three victims killed in a mass shooting that unravelled at the University of Virginia on Sunday night, was remembered by his cousin as being a “kind” and “humble” kid.

“Saddening, saddening news this morning,” tweeted Newberry College assistant football coach Sean Lampkin, who identified himself as a counsin of the deceased wide receiver. “God took one of his most kind, humble, loving soldiers off of the battlefield last night. Please pray for my family as we are devastated by the passing my cousin Lavel Davis Jr. Love and already miss you, kid.”

The University of Virginia has lifted its shelter in place command for students and staff at the Charlottesville campus, ending a near 12-hour order that was issued after three victims were said to have been killed in a mass shooting and another two injured.

There has been no arrest for the suspected shooter, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr, who according to authorities remains at large as a suspect.

At approximately 10:34am local time, university officials alerted students that they were now free to leave their rooms after a thorough search of the campus grounds were conducted by local authorities.

Late on Sunday night, just hours before he would be fatally wounded by a shooter who went on a rampage on the University of Virginia campus, Lavel David Jr was posting on his social media feed, sharing posts from professional football players who had successfully made the leap from NCAA to NFL.

In a story on the David’s public Instagram account, he shared a post from Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The post from the NFL player showed highlights from 30-year-old’s games, a post that could easily have been interpreted as the promising young football star’s aspirations to one day graduate from university sports to the professional league.

Two days earlier, he’d shared a post on the social media platform with several action shots from junior year with the team, alongside the caption: “Life lately.”

Authorities confirmed that the suspect in University of Virginia shooting that killed three people, all of whom were identified as football players at the school, has been taken into custody.

Three University of Virginia football stars were the victims killed during the deadly mass shooting at the Charlottesville campus on Sunday night.

The third victim to be identified in the horrific assault on Sunday night was wide receiver Devin Chandler, the Wisconsin State Journal first reported.

Chandler, originally from Huntersville, North Carolina, had previously played for the University of Wisconsin.

During a Monday morning press conference, authorities confirmed to a pool of reporters that the students injured in the attack would not be identified as they were receiving treatment in hospital.