What started as an enjoyable day for some of The University of Virginia football players soon turned into tragedy as three of the students were fatally shot. They were shot by Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a 22-year-old student, and former university football player. 

Jones had allegedly opened fire on a bus full of students who had just returned from a field trip to see a play in Washington, D.C., on November 13th, 2022. Three were reported to be fatally shot, while the other two were injured. Of the five victims, four were U-Va. Football players. By the time the police arrived, Jones had already fled the crime, leaving the bodies of wide receiver Lavel Davis Jr. and linebacker D’Sean Perry on the bus. The wide receiver Devin Chandler eventually died after being promptly rushed to the hospital.

A massive search immediately took place, lasting 12 hours and putting the campus under a shelter-in-place order. Jones was finally taken into custody in Herico County, 80 miles north of Richmond. 

Lynch, a sophomore from Philadelphia, witnessed the shooting firsthand on the bus. Jones had been invited to join the theater class in seeing a play and going out for food afterward. Jones had kept to himself most of the trip until the students had arrived back on campus, where pulled out his gun and began to fire.

As the students heard gunshots and began to smell smoke, panic filled the bus, and everyone struggled to get off. Some heard Jones yell before opening fire, “You guys are always messing with me,” targeting specific people, one of which was sleeping. Freshman Caroline Bruner expressed her emotions on the topic, saying, “It’s really sad that this kind of issue is so widespread that even a college that my parents went to would suffer from this kind of thing.” As The University of Virginia faces this heartbreaking tragedy, the hearts of thousands go out to the victims’ families.