University of Virginia football players Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were killed Sunday night in an on-campus shooting that left two other students hospitalized.
University president Jim Ryan announced during an 11 a.m. ET press conference on Monday that Chandler, Davis Jr. and Perry were identified as the three students killed during a mass shooting on campus in Charlottesville, Virginia. Two other students were wounded, one is in good condition and the other is in critical condition.
The shooting occurred in the Culbreth parking garage on Sunday night with the players returning on a bus from a field trip. Campus police issued a shelter-in-place order after the shooting as law enforcement conducted a manhunt for the suspect shooter. Police lifted the lockdown at 10:33 a.m. on Monday.
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University of Virginia police chief Tim Longo identified Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. as the suspected shooter and he has been taken into custody, per ESPN. Jones, listed on the Virginia football roster as a running back in 2018, was investigated in September after another student reported Jones made a comment about possessing a firearm.
The Office of Student Affairs and campus police investigated the report, making efforts to contact Jones and his roommate. At the time, Jones’ roommate did not report seeing a weapon and the original witness did not indicate a threat was made.
Longo indicated that Jones was required to report a case of his concealed weapon violation to campus officials, but he never did.
“Through the course of the threat assessment team’s investigation, we learned of a prior criminal incident involving a concealed weapon violation that occurred outside the city of Charlottesville in February of 2021.”
University of Virginia police chief Tim Longo on previous investigation into Christopher Darnell Jones
Jones has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder.
Identities of Virginia shooting victims
Less than 48 hours before the shooting, all three players had been on the field and sideline for the Virginia Cavaliers in a matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers. Now, the program is going through one of the most devastating tragedies to happen to a college team in years.
Lavel Davis Jr.
Davis Jr. was a 6-foot-7 wide receiver who joined the Cavaliers out of Dorchester, South Carolina. A Woodland High School alum, the junior was on pace to surpass his career highs in receiving yards (515 in 2020) and touchdowns (five). He missed the 2021 season with an injury.
- Lavel Davis Jr. stats (2022): 16 receptions, 371 receiving yards, 23.2 yards per catch
“Saddening, saddening news this morning. God took one of his most kind, humble, loving soldiers off of the battlefield last night. Please pray for my family as we are devastated by the passing of my cousin Lavel Davis Jr.”
Newberry College assistant coach Sean Lampkin, cousin of Lavel Davis Jr., on the Virginia football player’s death
The school’s website shared that Davis Jr. was a recipient of the Danny Lee Fassio Family Bicentennial Scholarship this season, awarded to one player on the Virginia football team who is chosen by the university.
Devin Chandler
Chandler, a native of Huntersville, North Carolina, was another junior wide receiver on the team. While he hadn’t played a game this season, he caught two passes for 28 yards as a freshman during the 2020 season.
The 6-foot wideout was a three-star recruit in 2020 and originally played for the Wisconsin Badgers before transferring to Virginia. Chandler was an honor-roll student at William Amos Hough High School and starred in both football along with track and field.
D’Sean Perry
Perry, a 6-foot-3 linebacker, starved at Gulliver Prep High School in Miami, Florida before committing to Virginia. The junior scored made one of the biggest plays of the Cavaliers’ 2020 season, returning an interception 84 yards for a touchdown on the final play of a game.
Perry took the field on Saturday against Pittsburgh, recording two tackles. A major in Studio Art, he also attended the same high school as Cavaliers’ teammate Mandy Alonso.