Three University of Virginia football players were identified Monday as the victims killed in a late-night shooting Sunday, with officials arresting a student suspected of carrying out the attack.
Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis and D’Sean Perry died after a gunman opened fire on a bus filled with students returning from a field trip around 10:30 p.m., the school’s President Jim Ryan said during a news conference.
The suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. was taken into custody late Monday morning in connection with the rampage that also left two people wounded.
Jones, whom local outlets report was a former football player at the university, faces multiple charges, including three counts of second-degree murder.
The wounded victims were not identified, but Ryan said one is in good condition and the other is critical.
Investigators have not announced a motive.
The university canceled classes Monday, while a shelter-in-place order was lifted Monday morning.
“This is a message any leader never hopes to send, and I am devastated that this violence has visited the University of Virginia,” Ryan said in his announcement. “This is a traumatic incident for everyone in our community.”
Jones attended Petersburg High School, located about 90 miles northeast of the UVA campus in Charlottesville, before enrolling at University of Virginia, according to the local news station WRIC. He played running back and linebacker in high school.
“I am holding the victims, their families, and all members of the University of Virginia community in my heart today, and we will make plans to come together as a community to grieve as soon as the suspect is apprehended,” Ryan said.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his wife are “praying for the UVA community,” he tweeted Monday.
Founded by Thomas Jefferson more than 200 years ago, the University of Virginia enrolls more than 20,000 students.
