Christopher Jones arrested for University of Virginia shooting that killed three

The ‘armed and dangerous’ University of Virginia student accused of killing three college football stars in a campus mass shooting has been taken into custody after more than 12 hours on the run.Christopher Darnell Jones, a 22-year-old student and former football player for the college, was arrested late on Monday morning following a huge manhunt, University of Virginia Police Department confirmed on Twitter.Mr Jones is accused of opening fire on a bus full of students as they returned from a field trip on Sunday night and as the bus arrived back at the parking garage in the main campus along Culbreth Road in Charlottesville.Three football players on the university’s team the Virginia Cavaliers – D’Sean Perry, 22, Lavel Davis Jr, and Devin Chandler – were killed in the attack.Two other victims were shot and wounded and taken to hospital. One of the surviving victims remains in a serious condition while the other is in a good condition, authorities said. Their identities will not be reelased at this time.In a press conference on Monday morning prior to Mr Jones’s arrest, University president Jim Ryan said that police had been called to reports of shots fired in the parking garage area on Culbreth Road at around 10.30pm on Sunday night.Multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds were found on the scene, three of them fatal.A massive manhunt was launched to track down suspect Mr Jones, after police said he went on the run in the aftermath of the shooting rampage.It is not clear if the victims knew their alleged killer or if the shooting rampage was targeted or carried out at random.Mr Jones is also a student at the university and was on the Virginia Cavaliers team roster in 2018, according to a profile on the team’s website – however he did not appear in any games that year.The bio lists the 22-year-old’s numerous accolades and honours during high school.He was described as a played linebacker and running back at Petersburg High School who ‘earned honorable mention all-conference honors as a senior’.He spent his first three years of high school at Varina High School ‘where he earned honorable mention all-conference as a freshman and second-team accolades as a sophomore and junior’, the bio says.Mr Darnell Jones was a ‘member of the National Honor Society … National Technical Honor Society … president of Key Club … president of Jobs for Virginia Grads Program … named Student of the Year as a freshman and sophomore at Varina … son of Margo Ellis and Christopher Jones, Sr. … has three siblings, Eliza, Darrius and Varian,’ the bio reads.The 22-year-old was previously hailed as something of a success story after overcoming something of a troubled childhood to become a model student.One of four siblings, he grew up in housing complexes in Richmond, according to a 2018 Times-Dispatch story.Mr Darnell Jones’ father abandoned the family when he was a boy and he reportedly got into trouble at school for fighting.But, the ‘smart and quiet’ student appeared to turn things around, playing football and graduating from Petersburg in 2018.Perry’s grieving father Sean Perry confirmed his 22-year-old son’s death to local paper The Daily Progress and said that he and the victim’s mother Happy were flying from their hometown of Miami to Virginia.Perry, who was 6’3′ tall and weighed 230 pounds, was part of the University of Virginia football team – the same team that Mr Jones made the roster for back in 2018 – and played just hours before his death, when the team took on Pittsburgh on Saturday.According to a profile on the Virginia Cavalliers website, Perry previously played linebacker, defensive line and tight end at Gulliver Prep and was named the South Florida Conference’s 2018 Defensive Player of the Year.He also made the Team USA under-19s team and appeared in the International Bowl in Dallas, Texas.After graduating high school, he majored in studio art at the University of Virginia.Sean Lampkin, an assistant football coach at Newberry College, confirmed that his cousin Davis was also killed in the shooting.He paid tribute to the wide receiver as ‘one of his most kind, humble, loving soldiers’ and said that his family is ‘devastated’ by the news.’Saddening, saddening news this morning. God took one of his most kind, humble, loving soldiers off of the battlefield last night. Please pray for my family as we are devastated by the passing my cousin Lavel Davis Jr. Love and already miss you, kid,’ he tweeted.As a talented wide receiver Davis was added to the 2022 Comeback Player of the Year Watch List just last month.Originally from Dorchester, South Carolina, he played wide receiver and safety at Woodland High School before he was selected to play in South Carolina’s North-South all-star game.