A witness has told a side of the story on the Virginia shooting suspected to have been carried out by one Christopher Darnell Jones Jr.
According to the witness, the suspect aimed at people via ESPN;
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., the suspected gunman in a shooting Sunday night that left three University of Virginia football players dead and another wounded, was aiming at people and not shooting a handgun randomly on a charter bus, according to a passenger on the bus.
A witness who was on the bus, which was returning from a class field trip to Washington, D.C., also told police that Jones shot and killed Cavaliers receiver Devin Chandler while he was sleeping.
Details of the witness statements were shared with Albemarle General District Court Judge Kenneth Andrew Sneathern by Commonwealth’s Attorney James Hingeley during Jones’ initial court appearance Wednesday.
“That was information that we had from a witness,” Hingeley said outside the courthouse.
Jones, who participated in the hearing via video from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, said little during the 20-minute hearing, other than that he wanted to hire his own attorney and was employed at the time of the shooting. Jones is being held without bail.
Sneathern scheduled a case status hearing for Dec. 8.
Hingeley told the judge that Jones had previously been convicted on a misdemeanor charge of having a concealed weapon in Chesterfield, Virginia, on June 10, 2021. He was fined $100 and given a 12-month suspended sentence. A judge also issued a three-year good behavior bond in that case, according to court records obtained by ESPN, and the judge ordered Jones to forfeit the firearm.
At the time of that arrest, Jones also had outstanding warrants on misdemeanor hit-and-run property damage and reckless driving charges in Petersburg, Virginia, from 2021. He was convicted on Oct. 28, 2021, and that judge also issued a 12-month suspended sentence on each of those charges.
Junior receiver Lavel Davis Jr. of Dorchester, South Carolina, and junior defensive end/linebacker D’Sean Perry of Miami also were killed in the shooting. Running back Mike Hollins of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is hospitalized after being shot in the back. A fifth person on the bus, Virginia student Marlee Morgan, was also shot.
“We are all grieving and saddened and devastated by these events in our community,” Hingeley said. “All of us in this community care for the victims’ families and wish for the speedy recovery of those who are being treated at the hospital and who were wounded. We wish that there could be comfort for the family members of the victims who died in this terrible tragedy.”
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