University of Virginia shooting updates: UVA football players D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. among 3 killed; suspect at large
Sean Perry #SeanPerry
Three Virginia football players — D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler — were among the three victims killed and two injured during a shooting at Culbreth Garage on the school’s campus Sunday night, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Perry, 22, was a junior linebacker and defensive end for the Cavaliers. He spent four seasons as a part of the team’s football program after being a three-star recruit out of Gulliver Prep in Miami.
Perry played during Virginia’s 37-7 loss to Pitt on Saturday. He recorded two tackles, the second-highest in-game mark of his career. He played in nine total games for the Cavaliers with nine tackles and a pick-six.
The Times-Dispatch reports that Perry’s parents, Sean and Happy, are flying in from Miami on Monday in wake of his death.
Davis was a junior receiver at Virginia. The Dorchester, South Carolina, native joined the Cavaliers in 2020 as a three-star recruit and racked up 20 catches for 515 yards and five touchdowns as a true freshman.
Davis last played for Virginia on Oct. 29 when he had one catch for 47 yards. He played 15 total games with the Cavaliers and recorded 36 catches, 886 yards and seven touchdowns.
Davis’ death was announced by his cousin Sean Lampkin, a tight ends coach at Newberry College.
Chandler was a junior transfer from Wisconsin who was in his first season with Virginia. The receiver was a three-star recruit and hailed from Huntersville, North Carolina.
Chandler returned 10 kicks for 241 yards during his time with the Badgers. He had yet to play for the Cavaliers.
Per UVA president Jim Ryan, Christopher Darnell Jones “is suspected to have committed the shooting.” He is now in police custody, per UVA police chief Tim Longo, after several local law enforcement agencies were “coordinating to find and apprehend him” on Monday morning.
Jones was considered armed and dangerous, which led the UVA Police Department to ask those on campus to shelter in place through Monday morning. That order was lifted around 10:30 a.m.
Jones is a former football player at the university. His biography on Virginia’s athletic website — where he is listed as Chris Jones — details that he was with the team in 2018. He did not appear in any games and there are no updates beyond 2018.
Per Longo, Jones had previously been reported to the “university’s threat assessment team” after making a comment about owning a gun.
Perry, Davis and Chandler have been identified as victims of the shooting. There were two other victims that suffered injuries, but their names have not yet been released.
Ryan said in a Monday news conference that one of the injured victims is in critical condition while one is in good condition, per Mike Barber of the Times-Dispatch.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.