The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday it and member schools will honor the recent deaths of three University of Virginia football players killed in a shooting Sunday.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, was indicted Wednesday on three counts of second-degree murder and five of using a firearm in commission of a felony.
He shot and killed Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr and D’Sean Perry in the attack, all of which were players on the university football team.
Witnesses claim they saw Jones ‘target’ individuals on the bus and watched Chandler slide to the floor after being shot.
Jones was remanded in custody without bond and will next appear in court in December at 9:30am, though it is unclear if he will be transported from Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.
A moment of silence will be held during all conference games this week. Each home team will additionally have field signage which says ‘UVA Strong.’
The Atlantic Coastal Conference has planned several measures to honor the victims Saturday
This combo of undated image provided by University of Virginia Athletics shows NCAA college football players, from left, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry. The three Virginia football players were killed in a shooting in Charlottesville, while returning from a class trip
Helmets will have special designs during football games this weekend, with the decals approved by those at ACC headquarters in Greensboro, NC.
The ‘UVA Strong’ message will also make its way onto video boards at the games and across social media and digital platforms.
Virginia canceled its final home football game of the season Wednesday, the same day as Jones’ hearing.
The students had been on a field trip to see a play in Washington DC, with the devastating incident taking place as they pulled into the parking garage.
University officials and police said Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, joined a group of about two dozen others on a field trip Sunday from the Charlottesville campus to see a play in the nation’s capital, about 120 miles away. Jones was a member of the football team during the 2018 season, a one-semester walk-on, according to athletics director Carla Williams
A banner with the numbers and initials of three University of Virginia football players killed in a shooting hangs from a home near the crime scene, Monday
It set off panic and a 12-hour lockdown of the campus until the suspect was captured just outside Richmond on Monday.
Jones’ father now says he was ‘paranoid’ and said people had been ‘picking on him’ for weeks before he killed wide receivers Chandler, Davis Jr. and linebacker Perry.
Fellow UVA football players Dontayvion Wicks and Mike Hollins were injured but survived.
Head football coach, Tony Elliott, smiled broadly when asked to share thoughts about three of his players slain Tuesday, as if doing so would offer some respite from two days of intense heartache.
Jenna Hughes, of Hanover, Va., stands with Brian Stanmeyer, of Vienna, Virginia, as they gather for a candlelight vigil after a shooting that left three students dead the night before
‘Davis Jr., Perry and Chandler were funny, competitive and great teammates, Elliott said.
‘Davis was gentle, but passionate, with a smile that lit up a room,’ Elliott said. The 6-foot-7 wide receiver set the standard when it came to practicing and preparing for a game – even when the coaches weren’t around.
‘The other thing that resonated is just how good of a teammate he was and how much he loved his teammates and would do anything for his teammates,’ Elliott told reporters at a Tuesday news conference.
A pedestrian stands in front of a fraternity house with a banner memorializing three University of Virginia football players killed during an overnight shooting at the university on Monday
Sean Perry, a linebacker and defensive end for the University of Virginia football team, is one of three people shot dead at Culbreth Garage on UVa Central Grounds at the University of Virginia Sunday night, Perry’s father Sean Perry confirmed Monday morning
‘Perry was probably the most interesting guy on the roster,’ the coach said. ‘A dedicated player but also a studio art major who shaped pots out of clay, liked to draw and listen to classical music.
‘And he had a sense of humor that was one of a kind that only D’Sean could have,’ Elliott said. ‘You knew immediately when somebody said something, yeah, that was D’Sean.’
Chandler transferred in from Wisconsin and had yet to play at Virginia.
‘He just was a big kid. Smiled all the time. Loved to dance. Loved to sing. Loved to compete, even though the guys revealed that he wasn’t very good at video games, but he thought he was,’ Elliott said, laughing. ‘But he loved to compete.’
Virginia’s Lavel Davis Jr. (1) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during an NCAA college football game against Richmond in Charlottesville on September 3
Jones was a member of the football team during the 2018 season, a one-semester walk-on, according to athletics director Carla Williams.
The violence at the state’s flagship public university has set off days of mourning among students and faculty, the broader Charlottesville community and other supporters.
Classes resumed Wednesday, though no decision has been made yet about whether UVA will participate in its final game of the season on November 26 against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, the university said in a news release.
Chandler was a wide receiver from Huntersville, North Carolina. He recently transferred from Wisconsin, where his accomplishments included a 59-yard kickoff return and 18-yard rush in the Duke´s Mayo Bowl against Wake Forest in 2020
The violence erupted near a parking garage just after 10:15 p.m. Sunday as a bus full of students returned to Charlottesville
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk