D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler.Photo: Virginia Sports (3)
A class field tripturned tragicwhen a 22-year-old University of Virginia student allegedly opened fire Sunday night after a charter bus full of students returned from seeing a play in Washington, D.C.
The shooting occurred at the Culbreth Road Parking Garage shortly after 10 p.m. and claimed the lives of D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr. All three fatal victims were football players on the UVA team.
Two other students, who have not been identified, were injured in the shooting.
The suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., fled after the shooting but was taken into custody Monday morning. He faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony, UVA Police Chief Tim Longo said on Monday.
It is not immediately clear if Jones has entered a plea or retained an attorney to comment on his behalf.
Mike Kropf/The Daily Progress via AP
UVA President Jim Ryan expressed his sadness during a Monday press conference.
“My heart is broken for the victims and their families and for all those who knew and loved them, and they are all in my prayers,” Ryan said. “As I said before, when I see our students, I see my own kids, and I cannot imagine anything worse for a parent and as a child.”
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Here are the victims of Sunday’s shooting:
D’Sean Perry.Virginia Sports
D’Sean Perry
The college junior was a linebacker for Virginia who played in 15 football games over the last three seasons. But when he wasn’t playing football, he was an artist majoring in Studio Art.
Perry was known as a standout student, athlete and artist at Gulliver Preparatory School in Pinecrest, Fla. The school’s president, Cliff Kling, remembered his artwork and impact fondly.
Kling said Perry won his admiration for his ceramics project at a 2018 spring art show,Local10.com reported.
“Talking to him at the art show felt like I had known him forever,” Kling said. “After you had an encounter with him, you were better for it. He was a bright mind, caring heart.”
Virginia Sports
Devin Chandler
The college junior played wide receiver and kick returner for UVA after transferring from the University of Wisconsin, where he was still beloved.
“Once a badger, always a badger,” University of Wisconsin interim head coach and Defensive Coordinator Jim LeonhardtweetedMonday.
“He had a lasting impact on his teammates, even after he left UW, which is a testament to the type of person he was,” Leonhard stated. “His personality was infectious and he was a joy to be around. Our team is hurting for him and his family.”
Chandler graduated from Hough High School in North Carolina, where his coach Matt Jenkinstold reportershe was “an outstanding young man.”
“He has an infectious personality and unbelievable smile,” Jenkins recalled. “Every day, he brought an energy and exuberance about him to practice and school and everything that he did.”
Lavel Davis Jr.
The college junior was a leading wide receiver on the team with 16 catches for 371 yards and two touchdowns for the year, according to theteam’s website.
But in addition to football, he loved old ’90s movies, Shakespeare and reading the Bible, he said in a video last year for the team’sofficial Twitter account.
“Me and my friends like to hang out and laugh, watch movies. I’m a big movies person,” he said last year. “Virginia is the perfect place for anybody who wants to work hard and be great.”
“Tyler was a star both on and off the field. He played his heart out for UVA and wanted to be the best, and he was,” according to the site. “He loved his parents, his family, his community, and he had a love for football like no other.”
source: people.com
