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

Three University of Virginia star football players have been identified as the victims allegedly killed by a fellow student and former college football player in a mass shooting on the campus.

Linebacker D’Sean Perry, 22; Lavel Davis Jr, and Devin Chandler 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, who was confirmed to have been killed in the shooting by his grieving father, Sean Perry, was a linebacker and defensive end for the Virginia Cavaliers football team – the same University of Virginia team that Mr Jones made the roster for back in 2018.

The 22-year-old football star played just hours before his death, when his team took on Pittsburgh on Saturday.

According to a profile on the Virginia Cavalliers website, Perry previously played linebacker, defensive line and tight end at Gulliver Prep and was named the South Florida Conference’s 2018 Defensive Player of the Year.

He also made the Team USA under-19s team and appeared in the International Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

After graduating high school, he majored in studio art at the University of Virginia.

Rachel Sharp has more details about the lives of the young football stars killed during Sunday’s massacre at UVA here.

The University of Wisconsin, where one of the three football players killed on Sunday night previously played, released a statement saying their program was “deeply saddened ” by the tragic deaths.

After a gunman opened fire on a bus full of students returning home from a field trip in Washington DC, three players from the University of Virginia’s football team were identified as the three victims killed in the mass shooting that also injured an additional two people.

The shot and killed football players included wide receivers Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr and linebacker D’Sean Perry.

“This is a difficult time for players and staff because of the lasting impact Devin had on his friends and teammates,” the statement read. “Our thoughts go out to his family, friends and the Virginia football family.”

The manhunt for the Christopher Darnell Jones, who police identified as student and former football player at the University of Virginia, plunged the university’s residences into lockdown as students and staff were commanded by the campus police and the school’s administration to shelter in place and seek safety if they weren’t inside already.

Police finally announced Mr Jones’ arrest just after 11am local time following warnings to the public that he was considered “armed and dangerous.”

His arrest marked the end of a nearly 12-hour episode that had left students and staff locked inside their rooms.

Here’s everything that we know about the suspected gunman behind the mass shoooting at UVA that killed three football players and injured at least two more.

The father of one of the surviving victims, Michael Hollins Sr, told the Daily Beast that the victims were just returning to the campus from a game when the tragedy unfolded.

Suspect Christopher Darnell Jones was reportedly on the field trip with the team and only began firing when the bus arrived in Charlottesville, officials reportedly told Mr Hollins.

Mr Jones, who was apprehended after a 12-hour manhunt on Monday in Richmond, is a student at UVA but was no longer in the football team, UVA Police Chief Tim Longo said during a press conference on Monday.

“He waited until they all got back to Charlottesville, and he just shot up the bus,” Mr Hollins said, adding that his son is expected to recover. from a gunshot wound in the back. “They said because of his age and physical condition, he’s doing exceptionally well.”

A CBS reporter shared an interview with one of the UVA shooting’s fatal victims, Lavel Davis Jr, earlier this year,

In the interview, which was never aired, Mr Davis spoke of his teammates and the appreciation he felt for them.

“We all hang out together, we are all a big family,” he said at the time. “We’re trying to be the better in the nation, we’re all like a big family ... We welcome each other and it is like a real brotherhood.”

He added: “It’s all competition but we never that get in the way ... It is a good competition, we’re trying to push each other to chase our dreams.

Christopher Darnell Jones Sr told NBC12 he could not believe his son was the alleged gunman in the shooting at UVA on Sunday.

“He came to the house. He did his laundry, we sat and talked, and he seemed like he was doing really well,” Mr Jones Sr recounted about his last contact with his son.

He continued: “When we finally had a chance to talk, he said there were some people there who were giving him a hard time, but he still was upbeat, and he was positive. I don’t know what happened between then and now to cause this to happen.”

UVA Police said on Monday that Mr Jones Jr had been involved in a hazing investigation that was later dropped because witnesses refused to cooperate. It is unclear whether he was accused of hazing or was believed to be a hazing victim.

A GoFundMe page has been created to cover funeral costs and support the family of Lavel “Tyler” Davis Jr.

“Tyler was a star both on and off the field. He played his heart out for UVA and wanted to be the best, and he was. He loved his parents, his family, his community, and he had a love for football like no other,” the description read.

“He worked hard coming back from two injuries to be one of the best college football players in the country. He was a rising star (both on and off the field) and the world was seeing what we all had known for a long time, that he was a talented one of a kind kid.”

Davis, who was 6’7” tall, ranked No 2 in the nation and No 1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for average yards per reception after the 2020 football season, the Associated Press reported.

He had returned to the field this year after suffering an injury in 2021. He was on a watch list for 2022 Comeback Player of the Year, per the AP.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has more details:

A witness said that the suspect waited until the bus with UVA students arrived at the Charlottesville campus and then got up from his seat and pushed one of the fatal victims, Lavel Davis Jr.

“After [Mr Jones] pushed him, he was like ‘You guys are always messing with me.’ He said something like that but it was really bizarre because they didn’t talk to him the whole trip,” Ryan Lynch, who was on the bus when Mr Jones allegedly opened fire, told local news station KYW.

The group had returned to campus from a field trip.

Mr Longo revealed on Monday that a UVA multidisciplinary threat assessment team launched an investigation after receiving reports that the suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones, made comments about owning a gun to an individual unaffiliated with the university.

Mr Longo said that Mr Jones had not made threats at the time, but simply mentioned he had a firearm.

“Because I want to be transparent with you, I want you to know … Mr Jones came to the attention of the University of Virginia’s threat assessment team in the fall of 2022,” Mr Longo said. “They received information that Mr Jones had made a comment about possessing a gun to a person that was unaffiliated with the university.”

It is unclear how the investigation unfolded, but Mr Longo said that the individual in question and Mr Jones’ roommate, who did not see the gun, were questioned. He also mentioned that Mr Jones had been investigated in connection to an alleged hazing incident but the inquiry fell apart after witnesses did not come forward with information.

The team learned that Mr Jones had violated protocol by not informing the university about a criminal incident in February 2021 in which he had been involved. The criminal investigation took place outside of Charlottesville and was in relation to a concealed weapon violation, NBC reported.

The UVA shooting that left three students dead came on the same day that four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their residence.

The Moscow Police Department in Idaho named the students on Monday as Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.

The four students were discovered at an address on King Road just before midday on Sunday following reports of an “unconscious individual”. Although police are treating it as a murder, they have said litle about how the victims died.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that they were stabbed to death and the killings were believed to be a “crime of passion.”

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp is following the story closely: