Lana Oconnell
On November 14, 2022, a shelter-in-place order was enforced at the University of Virginia after a shooting incident on campus. The suspect, 22-year-old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a student and former football player, was arrested in suburban Richmond, the Virginia state capital, after a 13-hour manhunt. Jones killed three students and wounded two others in a parking garage on campus. He pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and five counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the student | Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. |
| Age | 22 |
| Date of the incident | 13th November 2022 |
| Time of the incident | 10:30 PM |
| Location of the incident | In a bus and near a parking garage on campus |
| Victims | Three football players were killed and two other students were wounded |
| Status of the suspect | Arrested and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony |
| Status of the victims | Devin Chandler, D'Sean Perry, and Lavel Davis died. The names of the wounded students were not released. |
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. arrested for the shooting
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. was arrested for a shooting that took place on November 13 at the University of Virginia. Jones Jr. was a former UVA student who shot and killed three UVA football players and injured two others.
Jones Jr. began his first year at UVA on August 28, where he joined the football team but never played and soon left. On December 31, he attempted to buy a handgun but was refused as he was underage. On August 25 the following year, he was charged with a felony hit-and-run in Petersburg. On February 21, Jones was caught carrying a concealed 9mm semi-automatic pistol without a permit during a traffic stop in Chesterfield County. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour concealed weapon charge, receiving a suspended sentence and forfeiting the gun.
On July 8, Jones tried to buy a rifle but was unable to do so because of the felony hit-and-run charge from the previous year. On September 15, a report that Jones possibly possessed a gun was escalated to UVA's Threat Assessment Team, who uncovered his concealed-weapon conviction. The Student Affairs office informed Jones that he would be referred to the student-run University Judiciary Committee for failing to disclose his conviction, but he was not cooperative with the investigation.
On November 13, as a bus carrying students from a drama class trip approached the Culbreth Road drop-off point, shots were fired onboard. Jones Jr. was charged with 10 felonies, including three counts of second-degree murder, and denied bond. He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 30 and is currently in Albemarle County jail.
Dayton University Scholarships: Grad Student Opportunities
You may want to see also
Explore related products
$18.68 $29.95
Three football players killed, two wounded
On Sunday, November 13, 2022, 22-year-old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former football player, fatally shot three football players and wounded two other students at the University of Virginia. The shooting took place around 10:30 pm ET in a parking garage on campus as students returned from a school trip to see a play in Washington, D.C.
Jones, a student at the university, was arrested after a 13-hour manhunt. He was taken into custody without incident in suburban Richmond, the Virginia state capital, about 70 miles from the university's Charlottesville campus. He was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony.
In November 2024, Jones pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and five counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was initially scheduled to stand trial in January on charges including aggravated murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole in Virginia. However, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges in a plea agreement with prosecutors, which carry a sentence of 20 years to life. A four-day sentencing hearing was set to begin on February 4, 2025, in Albemarle County Circuit Court.
The shooting prompted a 12-hour lockdown of the Charlottesville campus, affecting the university's approximately 23,000 students. Many students huddled inside closets, dorm rooms, and academic buildings, while others barricaded doors and tried to remember active shooter drill protocols. The university's emergency management system issued an alert about an "active attacker firearm," and students were instructed to shelter in place.
How to Verify University of Phoenix Students' Credentials
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Students hid in closets, dorms, and libraries
On Sunday, November 14, 2022, a University of Virginia student, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., opened fire on a bus returning to campus from Washington, D.C. Three football players were killed, and two other students were wounded in the shooting. A 12-hour campus lockdown was enforced as police searched for the suspect, who was considered "armed and dangerous." During this time, students hid in various places across the campus, including closets, dorm rooms, and libraries.
Many students spent terrifying hours huddled in darkened rooms, listening to police scanners and trying to recall active-shooter drill protocols. Shannon Lake, a third-year student, spent 12 hours with friends in a lab room. Another student, Elizabeth Paul, received a warning about the active shooter while working at a computer in the library. She stayed huddled with others in the library for about 12 hours, spending much of the night on the phone with her mother.
The shooting occurred around 10:30 pm, as the bus full of students returned from a play and had dinner in Washington, D.C. Jones, a former football player, was arrested the next day in suburban Richmond, about 70 miles from the Charlottesville campus. He pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and five counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Temple University's Student Population: A Comprehensive Overview
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Jones pleads guilty to three counts of murder
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former University of Virginia student, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of three football players and the wounding of two other students on campus in 2022. Jones, 25, was arrested in November 2022 after a 13-hour manhunt and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony. He was taken into custody without incident in suburban Richmond, the Virginia state capital, about 70 miles from the University of Virginia's Charlottesville campus.
The shooting occurred on a Sunday around 10:30 pm Eastern Time in a parking garage on campus. A group of students had returned from a field trip to Washington, D.C., where they had attended a play. As they arrived back on campus aboard a chartered bus, Jones opened fire, killing three football players: Lavel Davis Jr., D'Sean Perry, and Devin Chandler. Two other students were wounded in the shooting.
In the hours before the shooting, Jones texted an adult mentor he had known for several years, stating, "Tonight I'm either going to hell or jail. I'm sorry." Following his arrest, Jones pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and five counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. A four-day sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place in the Albemarle County Circuit Court.
The University of Virginia community grieved the tragic loss of the three students and offered counseling to those affected by the shooting. The shooting also brought back memories of the violent "Unite the Right" rally in 2017, which saw white nationalists protesting on campus. The University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, has a long history and a unique structure, with no serving president and no mandated core curriculum for its students.
Black Student Enrollment at the University of Alabama
You may want to see also
Explore related products
$10.99
University cancels classes, offers counseling
On Sunday, November 13, 2022, 22-year-old University of Virginia (UVA) student Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. shot and killed three of his former football teammates and wounded two other students. The shooting took place on a school bus returning from a field trip in Washington, D.C., near a campus parking garage around 10:30 pm.
In the hours leading up to the shooting, Jones texted a mentor, "Tonight I'm either going to hell or jail. I'm sorry." Following a 13-hour manhunt, Jones was arrested in the Virginia state capital of Richmond, about 70 miles from the UVA campus. He was initially charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony. However, in November 2024, he pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and five counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
In response to the tragic incident, the university's president, Jim Ryan, notified students of the active shooter situation and instructed them to shelter in place. The campus was placed on lockdown for approximately 12 hours, during which students and faculty hid in closets, dorm rooms, and academic buildings. The shooting occurred amidst a string of mass shootings across the nation, including at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb.
In the aftermath of the shooting, UVA offered counseling services and cancelled classes to provide a period of grief and healing for the community. The university also planned to release an independent investigation report once sentencing was finalised in February.
Universities: Creating Student Jobs, Boosting the Economy
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
Three students from the University of Virginia football team were killed, and two others were wounded in a shooting on campus.
The suspect was a student at the university, named Christopher Darnell Jones Jr.
The motive for the shooting is still unknown. However, Jones texted a mentor before the shooting, saying, "Tonight I'm either going to hell or jail. I'm sorry."
Jones was arrested after a 13-hour manhunt and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony. He later pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and five counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The university's emergency management system issued a shelter-in-place order during the manhunt and provided regular updates to students via text message. Classes were canceled, and counseling services were offered to students to help them cope with the emotional fallout.
