The University of Virginia lifted a campuswide lockdown Monday hours after three students were killed and two injured in a shooting rampage on a charter bus that had returned from a field trip, authorities said.
Killed were D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler, all of whom played football at the school, university president Jim Ryan said. The names of the two people who were wounded have not been released.
"This is a sad, shocking and tragic day for our UVA community," Ryan said at a news briefing Monday, adding that authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
The suspected shooter, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., is a former UVA football player, though he didn't appear in any games. He was arrested just before 11 a.m. Monday in Henrico County, about 75 miles southeast of Charlottesville, Henrico Police said in a statement. Ryan said Jones, 22, is a student at the 22,000-student school.
Jones faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun to commit a felony.
The shooting prompted a universitywide shelter-in-place order that lasted about 12 hours. University Police Chief Timothy Longo received word that Jones was in custody during the briefing.
“Just give me a moment to thank God, breathe a sigh of relief,” Longo said.
Details of the arrest were not immediately released.
Longo said a shooting was reported at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday on the northern edge of campus. The school immediately sent an alert to students: "ACTIVE ATTACKER firearm reported in area of Culbreth Road. RUN HIDE FIGHT."
Ryan said counseling and psychological services would be made available to students. Classes were canceled Monday and Tuesday, as was a UVA basketball game.
“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,” Ryan wrote in an open letter shared on social media. “This is a traumatic incident for everyone in our community.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said agents were assisting in the investigation. Gov. Glenn Youngkin said state police were coordinating with local authorities, and he and his wife, Suzanne, were "praying for the UVA community."
Hundreds gather Monday night to mourn on campus
As the campus-wide lockdown lifted Monday, students, faculty and community members gathered to remember the dead and reflect on the tragedy.
Students in fraternity and sorority houses near the parking garage where the shooting occurred spent the afternoon crafting and displaying banners with messages including “UVA Strong” and the names and numbers of the players who died.
The signs were meant to give the campus community something to rally around, Luke Stone, a 21-year-old management and marketing major, said as he stood in front of a “Cville Strong” banner, reflecting solidarity in Charlottesville, Va.
“It’s been a tough day for people,” Stone said. “Just a sad, tough day for all of us.”
Just after sunset, more than a hundred people attended a service at St. Paul’s Memorial Church on campus where participants prayed for the victims, the survivors and “for all whose lives are forever changed and broken by the scourge of gun violence.”
Rev. William Peyton said the church serves not only the student body, but many in the surrounding Charlottesville community.
“I hope that we provided a place of comfort and safety for those who need it,” Peyton said. “That's why we opened the doors.”
As night fell, hundreds more students slowly and quietly filled the university’s south lawn for a candlelight vigil. Mourners sat in silent reflection for nearly an hour, embraced and raised their candles and cell phone flashlights in unison before the crowd began to disperse.
Students are working with school officials to plan a university-wide. Classes will be canceled again Tuesday to “give our students the opportunity to reflect, mourn and gather with each other,” President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom said in a statement.
Source: USA Today
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