Last night, as a multi-agency manhunt was being conducted for a guy with the name Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., students were instructed to “shelter in place” for many hours.
After a shooting at the University of Virginia left three football players dead, a suspect has been detained.
Authorities named the suspect as University of Virginia student Christopher Darnell Jones Jr.
As a bus full of students was returning from a trip to Washington, DC on Sunday night, gunfire broke out in a parking garage, resulting in three fatalities and two serious injuries.
One of the injured students was listed in serious condition at a nearby hospital, while the other was in good condition, according to university president Jim Ryan.
When they learned that Jones had been apprehended, Mr. Ryan and representatives of the local law enforcement were in the middle of a late-morning news conference.
Officials were initially “fairly sure” the gunman had left the school premises, according to university police chief Timothy Longo Sr. However, he advised the public to phone 911 right away if they saw him or the black SUV he was thought to be driving.
Chief Longo, on the other hand, said, “Just give me a moment to thank God, breathe a sigh of relief,” after learning that Jones had been captured.
Jones was the target of a multi-agency manhunt that lasted 13 hours and was cautioned to students on campus to take cover. Jones was described as “armed and dangerous.”
Jones is listed as a football player for the institution in 2018 who did not appear in any games during his rookie season.
The names of the victims are unknown.
As of this writing, Ryan reported that three people had died as a consequence of the shooting; two more people had been hurt and were being treated in hospitals.
“I am heartbroken that this violence has visited the University of Virginia. This is a painful episode for everyone in our community. This is a message any leader hopes never to have to communicate.”
Following the event, classes at the 25,000-student university were cancelled on Monday, and staff and students had access to support.
The incident is the most recent shooting to occur on a US college or school campus in recent memory.
The slaughter has intensified the fight for stricter gun control regulations in the US, where the right to bear arms is protected by the Constitution.
33 people were killed in a shooting at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 2007, which is about 150 miles (241 km) southwest of Charlottesville.
23 people were injured and 23 people were killed in one of the bloodiest mass shootings at a university in American history.