The violence that also injured two students erupted near a parking garage and sent the campus into an overnight lockdown while police searched for the gunman. Officials were told during the noon news briefing that the suspect, 22-year-old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., had been arrested. “Just give me a moment to thank God, breathe a sigh of relief,” University Police Chief Timothy Longo Sr. said after learning Jones was in custody. The shooting happened shortly after 10:15 p.m. Sunday as a charter bus full of students was returning from the theater in Washington. University President Jim Ryan said authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting. “The entire university community is mourning this morning,” said a visibly stressed Ryan. “My heart is broken for the victims and their families and for everyone who knew and loved them.” Ryan identified the three students who were killed as: Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry. He said one of the injured students was in critical condition and the other in fair condition. The shootings sparked an intense manhunt, with authorities conducting a building-by-building search on campus while students remained in a shelter for more than 12 hours. The lockdown order was lifted late Monday morning. Police obtained arrest warrants for Jones charging him with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of use of a weapon in the commission of a felony, Longo said. Jones had once played on the football team, but hadn’t been on the team for at least a year, Longo said. Jones came to the attention of the university’s threat assessment team this fall after a person unrelated to the school reported a remark Jones apparently made about having a gun, Longo said. No threat was reported in connection with the gun concern, but officials looked into it, following Jones’ roommate. Longo also said Jones had been involved in “some sort of murky investigation.” He said he did not have all the facts and circumstances of that case, although he said the investigation was closed after witnesses did not cooperate. In addition, officials learned of a previous incident outside of Charlottesville involving a weapons violation, Longo said. This incident was not reported to the university as it should have been, he said. Eva Surovell, the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily, said that after students received an alert about an active shooter late Sunday night, she ran to the garage only to find it blocked off by police. When she went to a nearby intersection, she was told to take shelter instead. “A police officer told me the shooter was nearby and I needed to get home as soon as possible,” he said. She waited with other reporters, hoping to get more details, then went back to her room to start working on the story. The seriousness of the situation sunk in. “My generation is certainly one that has grown up with widespread gun violence, but that doesn’t make it any easier when it’s your own community,” he said. Elsewhere, police in Moscow, Idaho, were investigating the deaths of four University of Idaho students found Sunday in a home near campus. Officers discovered the deaths when they responded to a report of an unconscious person, authorities said.
