On November 13th, 2022, at the University of Virginia, a mass shooting took place killing 3 students and injuring two more. All of the victims were members of the college’s football team. The suspect is 22 year old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. After the shooting, he was taken into police custody and charged with multiple counts of second degree murder and three counts of handgun use in the commission of a felony.
Prior to the shooting, the suspect Christopher was on a class trip to Washington D.C. to see a play about Emmet Till. He was not a part of the UVA football team, rather he went because of an invitation to join, as he was taking a social justice class taught by the same professor who was taking the football players on this trip. On the way back from D.C. he sat in the back of the bus alone and quiet.
The first shots were fired at around 10:15 p.m. at a parking garage near the Drama Building at the University of Virginia. Several of the witnesses claimed that the shooting targeted certain people.. There was a shelter in place warning for all students on the campus and while sheltering they sent the words “Run. Hide. Fight.” to all cell phones. Jones was spotted and taken into custody at 11:24 a.m. on November 14th in Henrico County.
The victims of the shooting were Devin Chandler, a junior from Huntersville, North Carolina, D’Sean Perry, a junior from Miami, Florida, and Lavel Davis Jr, a junior from Dorchester, South Carolina. All of these men were members of the UVA football team.
After the shooting, classes for UVA students were canceled on Monday and Tuesday. They returned on Wednesday but work was not graded for the rest of the week. A Vigil for the victims was held the day after the shooting. Candles were placed around the statue of Homer on campus with signs depicting the phrase “UVA Strong” and the uniform numbers of the deceased players “1-15-41”. Rest In Peace to the ones we lost during this tragic event, and prayers out to their families.
“When it was happening, it was very scary for our whole family,” said junior Holdt Gore, who has a sister that goes to UVA. “This makes me nervous about going to college, it feels much more real when something like this affects someone you are so close to.”
Senior Bekah Sugano said, “Yes, it makes me feel less safe to see such horrible things happen on college campuses and nothing being done about it.”
Students here at San Marcos are concerned about these kinds of incidents happening again at colleges. Hopefully college safety will start to be taken very seriously.
