University of Virginia shooting suspect denied bond as school cancels final home game

The student and former University of Virginia football player charged in connection with the fatal shooting of three of the team's current players after a field trip was denied bond in court Wednesday.

The school canceled what would have been its final home football game of the 2022 season on Saturday following the deaths of three players.

Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, allegedly opened fire on a bus Sunday at the Charlottesville campus after the students took a field trip to watch a play in Washington, D.C., CNN reported, citing a university spokesperson.

He faces three second-degree murder charges, two counts of malicious wounding and four firearms charges, the school's police chief, Timothy Longo Sr., said.

One of the players, Devin Chandler, was sleeping when he was shot dead, the Albemarle County prosecutor said.

Fellow players D’Sean Perry and Lavel Davis Jr. also died. Marlee Morgan and junior running back Michael Hollins were also injured. Hollins was intubated but stable as of Tuesday.

Virginia student Ryan Lynch was on the bus during the incident and said, "Chris got up and pushed Lavel. ... After he pushed him, he was like 'You guys are always messing with me.' Said something weird like that, but it was very bizarre because they didn’t talk to him the whole trip."

Gunfire then erupted. Lynch said, "We thought he was going to shoot everyone on the bus."

At the time of the incident, Jones was the subject of a pending hazing case under the university's judicial council, officials said. 

"In the course of their investigation, University officials discovered that Mr. Jones previously had been tried and convicted of a misdemeanor concealed weapons violation in 2021, for which he received a 12-month suspended sentence and a small fine," university spokesperson Brian Coy said.

"Mr. Jones repeatedly refused to cooperate with University officials who were seeking additional information about the claims that he had a firearm and about his failure to disclose the previous misdemeanor conviction."