The alleged shooter charged in the November 13 killing of three football players at the University of Virginia appeared in a Charlottesville court for the first time Thursday.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony after an on-campus shooting on a school bus that was returning from a field trip, according to UVA Police Chief Tim Longo. No plea has been entered.
Jones, who wore handcuffs, leg shackles, and a striped jail suit, remained quiet during the appearance as Judge Kenneth Andrew Sneathern scheduled the next hearing for March 30. Numerous witnesses are slated to testify during that appearance, the Associated Press reported, and if enough evidence against Jones is presented, Sneathern is expected to send the case to a grand jury.
UVA football players Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler, and D’Sean Perry were killed in the shooting. Fellow students Marlee Morgan and Mike Hollins, another football player, were also injured. Hollins was initially listed in critical condition but has since been released from the hospital.
Jones, a former UVA football player, was apprehended following an hours-long manhunt that police launched immediately after the shooting.
“This is an unimaginably sad day for our community,” UVA president Jim Ryan said during a press conference the following day. “My heart is broken for the victims and their families and for all those who knew and loved them. And they are all in my prayers. … Please know we will do everything we can to honor their lives and will come together soon as a community to mourn these losses.”
The Cavaliers subsequently canceled their final two games of the season. The NCAA has given players in their final year with the team an extra year of athletic eligibility.
Also on Thursday, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares tapped the Quinn Emanuel law firm to launch an external review to learn more about the circumstances that led to the shooting.
“Understandably, there are many questions about the events that led to the tragedy at the University of Virginia,” Miyares said in a statement. “At the appropriate time, a report will be released to the public to help answer those questions.”
State police, as well as police from the university, are also conducting criminal investigations.
“I’d like to thank Attorney General Miyares for agreeing to oversee the external review into this terrible tragedy and for identifying a team of experts to lead it,” Ryan said, according to ABC7. “We are committed to working with the special counsel team to learn as much as we can about this event and the circumstances that led to it, and to apply those lessons to keep our community safe.”
Feature image, © Bram / stock.adobe.com
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