Police are searching for a suspect following a shooting at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Sunday night.
The shooting was initially
reported at around 10:30 p.m. local time on Sunday on Culbreth Road. Police described the suspect as “armed and dangerous” and urged residents to shelter in place and reach out to family and friends to advise them that the suspect is still at large.
Police identified the suspect as Christopher Darnell Jones, who they
said is a “black male, wearing a burgundy jacket or hoodie, blue jeans, and red shoes.”
According to the university athletic department
website, Jones played football for the school in 2018 but didn’t appear in any games.
He had previously played linebacker and running back at Petersburg High School in Virginia.
The website states he earned “honorable mention all-conference honors as a senior” and spent his first three years of high school at Varina High School in eastern Henrico County, where he “earned honorable mention all-conference as a freshman and second-team accolades as a sophomore and junior.”
According to the website, he is a member of the National Honor Society and the National Technical Honor Society and is president of the Key Club as well as the Virginia Grads Program. He was also named student of the year as a freshman and sophomore at Varina.
It is not immediately known whether he is still a student at the University of Virginia.
Multiple Agencies Searching for Suspect
Officials
added that the suspect may be driving a black SUV.
It is unclear if there are any injuries or fatalities at this time. The university campus is currently locked down as students have been told to shelter in place.
The University of Virginia Office of Emergency Management
said on Twitter that multiple agencies, including a Virginia state police helicopter, are currently searching for the armed and dangerous suspect.
Elsewhere, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan
described Jones as armed and dangerous on Facebook.
In an
email to students, Vice President and Dean of Students Robyn Hadley said she is on campus and that students have received several “frightening” shelter-in-place text messages. Hadley urged students to take the text messages seriously as the situation “remains active.”
Hadley confined that several law enforcement agencies, including the University of Virginia Police and the Charlottesville Police Department, are searching for the suspect.
According to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, 1,065 people die after being shot in Virginia every year. The state has the
14th-strongest gun laws in the country, after enacting a slew of laws including enhanced background checks, according to the nonprofit.
