On the night of November 13, 2022, the University of Virginia was rocked by a targeted shooting that left three students dead and two others wounded. The incident occurred just after 10:30 p.m., when a group of UVA students returned to campus from a class trip to Washington, D.C. A charter bus carrying the students had parked near a campus parking garage when gunfire broke out inside the vehicle.
The shooter was identified as 22-year-old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former UVA football player who had once been on the team roster but had not played in any games. He was on the same bus as the victims, who were also members of the football team. Jones allegedly stood up and began firing at close range, aiming at specific individuals. The three students killed—Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry—were all current UVA football players. Two others were wounded, one critically.
Jones fled the scene, prompting a campus-wide shelter-in-place order and an overnight manhunt. He was apprehended the following morning without incident in Henrico County, roughly 80 miles away. A handgun was recovered during his arrest.
In the days following the shooting, questions emerged about how Jones was allowed to remain on campus despite prior red flags. Months earlier, he had been reported to the university’s threat assessment team after a student said Jones mentioned owning a gun. While the university was unable to confirm the gun possession at the time, they were aware of a prior concealed weapons violation outside Charlottesville and allegations of a past criminal incident involving a weapon. However, no disciplinary action had been taken before the shooting occurred.
Investigators found that the attack was targeted, not random. It appeared Jones harbored personal grievances against the victims. In high school, he had been known as a strong student and athlete, but in the years that followed, his behavior reportedly changed. He became isolated and, according to some accounts, struggled with paranoia and resentment.
The University of Virginia shooting prompted renewed scrutiny over how institutions manage threat reports and past criminal warnings. Despite previous concerns, Jones remained on campus and was able to legally acquire a firearm. For the families of the victims, the loss was both intimate and public—three young men, full of promise, murdered by someone they knew.
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