U.Va. shooting suspect part of field trip, school confirms

A University of Virginia spokesperson has confirmed that a student who went on a field trip to see a play with classmates is the one suspected of opening fire inside the bus they were riding in when the group returned to campus

A University of Virginia student who went on a field trip to see a play with classmates is the one suspected of opening fire inside the bus they were riding in when the group returned to campus, a university spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Spokesperson Brian Coy said the suspect in the shooting, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, joined what was previously described as a group of about two dozen others who traveled about 120 miles (193 kilometers) from the campus in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Washington for the field trip Sunday. Police said Jones, a former member of the school's football team, shot and killed three current team members and wounded two other students.

The shooting set off panic and a 12-hour lockdown of the campus until the suspect was captured just outside Richmond on Monday.

University President Jim Ryan said at a news conference Monday that authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the motive or circumstances of the shooting. Authorities said it was unclear how Jones was able to flee the shooting scene.

Jones was a member of the school's football team during the 2018 season. He is accused of fatally shooting three current members of the team and wounding a fourth member. Authorities have not said if the other student who was wounded is also on the team.

Ryan identified the three slain students as Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry.

Jones faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony, university police Chief Timothy Longo Sr. said. It was not immediately clear when Jones would make his first court appearance.

His father, Chris Jones Sr., told Richmond TV station WTVR he was in disbelief after getting a call from police Monday.

“My heart goes out to their families. I don’t know what to say, except I’m sorry, on his behalf, and I apologize,” he said.

Jones’ mother, Margo Ellis, declined to be interviewed when reached by The Associated Press on Tuesday. “There’s so much going on,” she said.

Jones came to the attention of the university’s threat-assessment team this fall in the context of a review of a “potential hazing issue,” the university said in a statement provided to the AP on Tuesday.

During that review, university officials heard from a student that Jones made a comment about having a gun. That student did not report Jones making any threat, according to the statement. University officials investigated and subsequently discovered Jones had previously been tried and convicted of a misdemeanor concealed weapons violation in 2021.

“Throughout the investigation, Mr. Jones repeatedly refused to cooperate with University officials who were seeking additional information about the claims that he had a firearm and about his failure to disclose the previous misdemeanor conviction. Accordingly, on October 27, the Threat Assessment Team escalated his case for disciplinary action,” the statement said.

The killings happened at a time when the nation is on edge from a string of mass shootings during the last six months, including an attack that killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas; a shooting at a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb that killed seven people and wounded more than 30; and a shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, that killed 10 people and wounded three.

Classes and other academic activities were canceled Tuesday and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin ordered flags lowered to half-staff in respect and memory of the victims, their families and the Charlottesville community.

UVA, the state’s flagship public university, has endured numerous high-profile tragedies over the past decade, including the 2014 disappearance and murder of a student. It was also the site of some of the violence inflicted by white supremacists who descended on Charlottesville for the “Unite the Right” events in 2017.

“I think UVA has weathered a lot in the past. And I think we are an incredibly resilient community,” said Ellie Wilkie, a 21-year-old student who sheltered in her room on the historic Lawn at the center of campus during the lockdown.

But she added that she hoped students would have time to grieve the lives lost and that the university would consider whether systemic changes could be made to prevent something similar from happening again.