University of Virginia President Jim Ryan said at a press conference that today is “an unimaginably sad day” for the community as he read the names of the three people killed in a shooting last night near Culbreth Garage on UVA Grounds.
“They were: Devin Chandler, a second-year from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Lavel Davis Jr, a third-year student from Ridgeville, South Carolina, and D’Sean Perry, a fourth-year student from Miami, Florida,” Ryan said.
The suspect is Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. and he was reported to be at large during the press conference, but University of Virginia Police Chief Tim Longo was handed a message while in the middle of explaining that the suspect was known to UVA as a potential threat.
“We’ve just received information that the suspect is in custody,” Longo said.
In this edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, more information about the incident:
The shootings took place on a charter bus that had returned from a field trip to see a play in Washington, D.C.
One of the two people wounded is in good condition and another is in critical condition. Both names are being withheld at this time
Hundreds of students remained in UVA buildings overnight as the search continued overnight
When the sun rose this morning, the University of Virginia was on lockdown. News of the shooting reverberated throughout the community as schools were shut down to allow everyone to heed a shelter in place order. (read today’s first installment)
Here’s what we know as the morning developed:
The Daily Progress reported at around 8:30 a.m. that one of the victims is fourth-year student D’Sean Perry, a linebacker and defensive end for the University of Virginia football team. The information was confirmed by Perry’s father. Perry is from Miami, Florida according to his page on Virginia Sports.
Lavel Davis Jr., a third-year student and wide receiver on the football team, was confirmed as the second victim later on in the morning with one source being a tweet from a family member.
Devin Chandler is a second-year student who played wide receiver according to his page on Virginia Sports.
The suspect is Christopher Darnell Jones, Jr., a former member of the University of Virginia football team in 2018 who did not appear in any games according to Virginia Sports.
More information came out at a press conference held at 11 a.m. At the time, Jones was still believed to be at large.
“The families of all the victims have been notified and the University is providing any and every available assistance,” Ryan said. “I have spoke with four of the families and I spoke directly to the student who is in good condition.”
This morning, UVA, Charlottesville, Albemarle and Virginia State Police conducted a thorough search of the University of Virginia before lifting the order at around 10:30 a.m. Classes have been canceled for the day as has tonight’s scheduled men’s basketball game.
“The entire University community is grieving this morning,” Ryan said. “My heart is broken for the victims and their families and for all of those who knew and loved them and they are all in my prayers.”
Ryan urged anyone to reach out for resources to get through the day. He then turned it over to Tim Longo, the former Charlottesville Police Chief who is now UVA’s associate vice president for safety and security as well as chief of police.
“This has been an incredibly long evening with very tragic circumstances for our University community, the city of Charlottesville, the county of Albemarle [and] the Commonwealth,” Longo said.
Longo said the shots fired call came at 10:16 p.m. last night and the University then triggered the emergency alert system which kept people up to date on the situation through the night every fifteen minutes or so.
“Since 10:16 p.m. up until just about 30 minutes ago, our students were sheltered in place where they were and more than 500 of them were sheltered in buildings throughout Grounds,” Longo said. “Studying in libraries, classrooms, and other places.”
Longo said the victims were found on a charter bus near the garage.
“Someone amongst them chose to do an act of violence and we found them dead inside that bus,” Longo said.
That person is alleged to be Christopher Darnell Jones who Longo said had been charged with three counts of second degree murder as well three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony.
“Those facts and circumstances were reviewed by a judicial officer and those are the charges that were proffered,” Longo said. “If there comes a point in time when those charges need to be amended and certain facts and circumstances arise that will cause us to do that, we’ll do that.”
Longo said Jones had been identified as a threat and was investigated this fall.
“In September 22, our Office of Student Affairs reported to the multidisciplinary threat assessment team that Mr. Jones, they received information that Mr. Jones had made a comment about possessing a gun to a person to a person what was unaffiliated with the university,” Longo said.
Longo said that information was reported without any indication of a pending threat, but his explanation of this was interrupted when he was handed information on the dais that Jones had been apprehended.
“We’ve just received information that the suspect is in custody,” Longo said.
“Give me just a moment here to thank God,” Longo said after a 23 second pause.
CBS19 reported that the Virginia State Police the suspect was caught in Henrico County.
Henrico Police posted their own press release soon after I originally sent out this publication:
Longo said Jones had also been investigated for a previous hazing and was also known to have a previous incident involving a concealed weapon.
Now what? I’ll have more information in the next regular installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Take a look at the full press conference for more information.
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