Former UVA football player, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., has been accused of opening fire on a bus filled with UVA football players, killing 3 and injuring 2 more with one in critical condition. The bus was returning from a field trip to see a play in Washington DC. It was about 10:30 pm last night when shots were heard coming from near the Culbreth parking garage on campus.
The students who were fatally shot:
After a 12-hour manhunt, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. was arrested and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun to commit a felony. The motive behind the shooting is not yet clear.
Jones grew up in Petersburg and later played football Varina High School and his senior year was spent at Petersburg High School.
From the NY Post:
“His football career
Virginia Sports reports Jones was a non-playing member of UVA’s football team in 2018.
He was not currently a member of the team and hadn’t been for “over a year,” according to school officials.
Police say all three people killed in the attack were football players, but no motive has been provided for the slaying.
Jones was also involved in a hazing incident in February 2021, university officials said, but did not provide more details.”
University President Jim Ryan canceled all classes today and issued the following statement:
“I am holding the victims, their families, and all members of the University of Virginia community in my heart today, and we will make plans to come together as a community to grieve as soon as the suspect is apprehended,” Ryan said in a statement released just after the shooting.
More details of this horrendous act are here, here and here.
