Thousands of Virginia Students Gather for Vigil to Honor Shooting Victims
Mourners lit candles and held a moment of silence after three football players were killed on Sunday night.
Editors’ note: This story contains details of a mass casualty event and gun violence.
The day after an on-campus shooting took the lives of three football players and left two others wounded, the University of Virginia community came together to honor the victims with an on-campus vigil.
The large group gathered on the South Lawn of campus and participated in a moment of silence to honor the victims.
Wide receivers Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler and linebacker D’Sean Perry were killed in the shooting. One of the wounded students is in good condition, while the other is in critical condition, according to University of Virginia president James Ryan. Their names have not been released due to privacy reasons.
The shooting occurred as students were returning from a field trip. The suspect, former Cavaliers football player Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., is now in custody. The suspect was on the field trip along with the victims. He faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in commission of a felony, according to law enforcement.
Shots were fired near a campus parking garage as students were returning on a charter bus from seeing a play in Washington D.C. According to officials, the first call came in around 10:16 p.m. ET Sunday, with officers arriving on the scene about 15 minutes later.
On Monday, classes at Virginia and the school’s men’s basketball game against Northern Iowa scheduled for that night were canceled. It is unclear whether Virginia’s football team will play in its Saturday matchup against Coastal Carolina.
Ryan addressed the situation with a statement that mourned the deceased players and thanked law enforcement officers who responded to the tragedy.
“The search for the suspect may be over, but the work of understanding this terrible crime and what motivated him to commit it is just beginning,” Ryan said in the statement. “University Police will continue to work with their partners in law enforcement to investigate this shooting, and we will provide additional information about those efforts as we are able.
“Our hearts remain broken at the senseless loss of three members of our University community, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry,” the statement continued. “We have spoken with members of their families to convey our condolences and to offer the support of this University as they cope with unspeakable tragedy. We are also monitoring the progress of two students who are in the excellent care of our medical center.”