University of Virginia shooting: Football player from South Florida among victims killed
UVA Shooting: Suspected shooter in custody after 3 killed, 2 injured in on-campus shooting
Authorities say Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. - the gunman suspected of opening fire inside a bus full of University of Virginia students returning from a field trip Monday night, killing three and leaving two others injured – is in police custody.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - After a deadly on-campus shooting at the University of Virginia, where investigators say a student and former football player opened fire on classmates in a bus, school officials identified the three victims killed — including one from Florida.
The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Sunday in an on-campus parking garage, where police said suspected gunman Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. shot and killed three people and left two others injured in the bus, then fled the scene. The shooting set off an intense, 12-hour manhunt that culminated in his capture around 11 a.m. Monday.
UVA President Jim Ryan identified the three deceased victims as school football players: linebacker D'Sean Perry, and wide receivers Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler.
Fox News reports that the other two hospitalized are also UVA football players.
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According to D'Sean Perry's biography page on UVA's website, he was a former South Florida football standout who graduated from Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami in 2019.
The president of Gulliver Prep released a statement about Perry's death, saying he was an "intelligent, committed, and hard-working student" with a "kind heart, quick wit, and ready smile [that] made him a favorite among his pears, teachers and coaches."
"D'Sean was an amazing soul that made his family and community proud," Gulliver football coach Earl Sims said in the school's provided statement. "His high moral character and integrity spoke volumes about the young man he was becoming. his presence was rich and made every encounter worthwhile."
The school said Perry frequently visited the campus after he graduated to mentor students in the classroom and on the football field.
Read the school's full statement below (mobile users: click here to read)
D'Sean Perry's family released their own statement through their lawyers, telling WSVN:
"On behalf of D’Sean’s parents, Happy and Sean Perry, and their entire family, we thank the South Florida and Charlottesville communities for the outpouring of support during this impossibly tragic time.
"Right now, Happy and Sean will not speak publicly about the incident as their grief is only beginning, and out of respect for the University of Virginia community which has been terrorized by another mass shooting in the United States."
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UVA Police Chief Timothy J. Longo said that, before the shooting, Jones — a former UVA football player — had been the subject of a prior hazing investigation.
He also was facing administration disciplinary action for allegedly failing to report a February 2021 criminal incident involving a concealed weapon violation that happened outside of Charlottesville to UVA officials as required by students.
Jones had not been on the team for over a year, Longo said.