By Sarah Rankin, AP
The University of Virginia will pursue an external review of whether its leadership “did all we could” to prevent the on-campus shooting that killed three football players and injured two students earlier this week, the university’s President Jim Ryan said.
“The criminal investigation is underway. And we are also inviting an external review with respect to the university’s interactions with the suspect and whether we did all we could to prevent or avoid this tragedy,” Ryan said in a video message posted on social media Wednesday night. “This will likely take a while, but we will share and act upon what we ultimately learn.”
The university did not immediately provide further details Thursday, though Virginia State Police announced it would be the lead agency in the criminal investigation. State police plan to provide an update later Thursday on the probe, according to a news release.
A UVA student and former football player, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., faces second-degree murder and other charges in the Sunday night shooting, which broke out on a bus returning from a field trip in Washington. The 23-year-old is currently being held without bond.
A witness told police the gunman targeted specific victims, shooting one as he slept, a prosecutor said in court Wednesday during Jones’ first court appearance. Authorities have not addressed a possible motive, and neither Jones nor his attorney addressed the substance of the charges in court.
Football players Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were killed in the violence. A female student who was injured has since been discharged from a hospital. Football player Mike Hollins, who was also injured, underwent surgery and is still recovering in the hospital.
Hollins was “progressing positively” on Thursday and will hopefully begin to take some steps, according to Joe Gipson, a family spokesperson.
Ryan also announced in his video that the university would host a memorial service Saturday to honor the lives of the victims, as well as the two people injured. UVA announced Wednesday that it had canceled its scheduled Saturday game against Coastal Carolina.
“It is possible and perhaps likely that we will never find one single thing that will explain this. It may also be that we never truly understand why this happened. But what we learn, we will share,” Ryan said in his video message.
The university said earlier this week that Jones drew the attention of the university’s threat-assessment team this fall in the context of a “potential hazing issue.” UVA has declined to elaborate. Athletics director Carla Williams said she wasn’t aware of any connection between the apparent hazing issue and the football program.
Colonial Heights store owner: UVA shooting suspect legally bought two guns from store this year https://t.co/0KyDv8Qqdy
— Laura French (@lfrenchnews) November 16, 2022
During its threat-assessment review, university officials began investigating a report that Jones had a gun and ended up discovering Jones had previously been tried and convicted of a misdemeanor concealed weapons violation in 2021, which he had failed to report, according to a statement.
The school initially said it “escalated his case for disciplinary action” on Oct. 27. But a spokesman, Brian Coy, revised the timeline Tuesday night. He said that likely due to either a human or technical error, the report had not actually been transmitted to the University Judiciary Committee, a student-run body, until Tuesday night after the shooting.
The University of Virginia will pursue an external review of whether its leadership “did all we could” to prevent the on-campus shooting
I’ll take: What is “FUCK NO” you fucking morons you ABSOLUTELY did NOT do everything YOU could possibly have done to prevent that shooting? Ya’ll can have that for free and remember this when the agency you are about to pay $100,000.00 tells you the same exact thing that I just gave you free of charge.
Remember the elementary school rules; if hebgets to have a gun, everyone should get to have one.
At this point who knows it could even be self defense. On the other hand and most likely perp goes from fun bus trip singing 99 Bottles of Beer to mumbling, In the jailhouse where I sit with my shirt tail dipped in sht.
just put up the pictures of the shooter and the victims. that will tell you the whole story.
☝️That.
NO do NOT put up pictures of this dirtbag. That just adds to the pressure for others to play wannabe just ike him. NO notoriety. It would be far better to just refer to him by “the shooter” and not even publish his name any more.
“The school initially said it ‘escalated his case for disciplinary action’ on Oct. 27. But a spokesman, Brian Coy, revised the timeline Tuesday night. He said that likely due to either a human or technical error, the report had not actually been transmitted to the University Judiciary Committee, a student-run body, until Tuesday night after the shooting.”
This is a problem with schools (and universities) in the U.S., knowing of issues but failing to report them to the proper places/authorities and instead stick to their internal procedures and keeping it there. It happens thousands of times a year, students that need professional focused intervention don’t get it because of ‘procedures’ keeping it internal to handle it as a ‘disciplinary action’ then it gets put in the closet with the rest of the skeletons. Students like this, without that intervention, frequently turn to violence in some form.
“knowing of issues but failing to report them to the proper places/authorities and instead stick to their internal procedures and keeping it there”
those on the isolate right maintain that there is no issue until he actually kills someone, and that any “pro-action” is in fact oppression.
WTF is “isolate right”? Are you making up a new nonsense term for crazy progressives to shout at their all-too-frequent riots?
no, it’s for old-fashioned conservatives to shout at the leftist-led right – you know, the new right that thinks the alternatives are leftist dictatorship and isolated individuals who live not as a nation or as a community but rather as loners on their own. the new right that seeks, not a rational nation or organized community, but rather themselves on their own recognizance.
“the best way to control the opposition is to lead it.” – lenin. and that’s what this new right is.
“any “pro-action” is in fact oppression“
Interesting, it seems Donald Trump was right regarding red flag laws.
so many labels today.
“…the report had not actually been transmitted to the University Judiciary Committee, a student-run body, until Tuesday night after the shooting.” LOL, Tell me again how serious the University President and other President consider illegal gun possession — that they shirked their duty and referred to a student run committee.
It appears from this piece that the perp had FAILED to report his “misdemeanour gun issue”, which, being ONLY a misdemeanour offense, does not debar him the use of arms, at least not at the Federal level In other words, even if that charge had been reported, it would not be disqualifying from possession. There may be some reporting requirement for University policy, and certainly to get a Mother May I Card to carry lawfully in public.
Pretty fuzzy territory here.
There should be an investigation after any shooting. But I don’t expect a school bureaucracy to be held accountable. School bureaucracies and school bureaucrats are never held accountable. They were not held accountable in Uvalde Texas. They were not held accountable in Parkland Florida. They were not held accountable in the previous shooting at Virginia Tech.
Unionized education workers, unionized teachers new exactly what was going on prior to these shootings. And they did nothing to stop the shooters. And they still have their unionized government jobs.
“new exactly what was going on prior to these shootings”
excellent observation. and the reason they’re not “held accountable” is because they are part of the process pushing all this.
Remember the Bureaucrat’s Syllogism:
The government is God.
God is Love.
Love means never having to say you’re sorry.
it seems pretty fair to say
that you can take people out of the inner city
but you cant take the inner city out of the people
How about you quit admitting thugs into your school. Problem solved.
Come up with a fair and just method of vetting all applicants that does not discriminate on meaningless bases, and maybe we could give it a try. You gonna scratch off a guy just because he was born or lives in a certain zip code?
Seems there were plenty of bright red neon flashihg lights on this clown, just as there were with the first VaTech killer, Uvalde, Aurora Theatre, Parkland, Sandy Hook, and you know or should know the rest of this litany. Yet NO ONE took authority and DID anyting to prevent it.
One more point: instead of mandating the entire campus be disarmed, how’s about allowing individuals who so desire to take some specialised training for such situations, vetting them carefully, then allowing them to carry on the campus, just like tehey do everywhere else they go.? The REAL problem is there is NO ONE to shoot back, or hold at gunpoint until LE arrive. And LE are almost NEVER able to do a thing except prowl about the scene after the bodies are cold and move away to get fitted for their new toe tags and take twenty seven color glossy photographs with circles and arrows, and a paragraph on the back of each one and explaining what each one was………
“did all we could”
As Univ of Va has policies in place that clearly are unConstitutional (as reaffirmed by Bruen) they have “NOT done all they could” as they have disarmed all present. Denying, by extortion the god given right of self-defense/self-preservation.
https://uvapolicy.virginia.edu/policy/SEC-030
The prog bastards need to be sued for millions $.
Same city that was traumatized by a peaceful protest back in 2017.
Free James Fields!!!
“… and ended up discovering Jones had previously been tried and convicted of a misdemeanor concealed weapons violation in 2021, which he had failed to report, according to a statement.”
not to defend him…but …
Actually he had no obligation to report it. They (the university) were ‘investigating’ and its up to them to discover a ‘misdemeanor’ conviction (which they did). A person is only obligated to report a ‘felony’ conviction and then in only certain circumstances (e.g. employment, in court testimony when asked).
On the other hand, if they specifically asked him if he had ever been convicted of any crime… well it depends…are they law enforcement? Was it later dismissed?
If it was later dismissed one can legally say “no”, most ‘misdemeanors’ are later dismissed. So what was the status of this ‘misdemeanor’? Non-law-enforcement person/people asking you in their ‘investigation’ you have no obligation to report any ‘conviction’ to them period. If its law enforcement ‘investigating’ its up to them to discover it and you still have no obligation to ‘report’ it to them and don’t even have to talk to them. If he has no obligation to report it then he has not ‘failed’ to report it.
The use of the “which he had failed to report” is somewhat coloring him as ‘dishonest intentionally’
The use of “The university said earlier this week that Jones drew the attention of the university’s threat-assessment team this fall in the context of a “potential hazing issue.” makes on think that Jones was possibly the one doing the “hazing”
Their attention to Jones? Define that. In the back story not disclosed here he had already told his father previously he was being hazed by someone (although he did not identity them) and that he was ‘paranoid’.
The use of “Athletics director Carla Williams said she wasn’t aware of any connection between the apparent hazing issue and the football program.”
Well, of course she is going to say that. She probably doesn’t keep track of what the team members do all the time but she also has a financially vested interest in protecting the team and university. But the placement here in the missive, right after the open-ended implication that it was Jones doing the hazing and then after that in the narrative Jones “failed” to report a ‘misdemeanor’ (that he had no obligation to report or possibly if dismissed could have legally said ‘no’).
Then this “During its threat-assessment review, university officials began investigating a report that Jones had a gun…”
a “threat-assessment review” is only conducted at this university if there is reason to suspect a student is a threat to others or the student is a threat to themself. They already had a reason and legal obligation to seek (mental health) professional or law enforcement intervention if they were conducting a “threat-assessment review” but they didn’t. Instead they are supposedly going to let a bunch of other students (the University Judiciary Committee) decide it as a ‘disciplinary action’ when they are obligated under law to seek that (mental health) professional or law enforcement intervention and go that route and not to a ‘disciplinary action’ internal thing. It sounds like they were trying to frame it in a manner to get rid of him, discredit him, in the event of a law suit because ‘hazing’ is illegal.
It would not be the first time a university has painted the victim of hazing as the bad guy and tried to get rid of them in an effort to protect its outside donation and alumni booster efforts/donation supported foot ball team that brings in a lot of $$$ annually.
Then the supposedly ‘escalated his case for disciplinary action’ that for some reason didn’t get “transmitted to the University Judiciary Committee, a student-run body, until Tuesday night after the shooting” due to human or technical error. That in its self is suspicious. Suddenly this report turns up after the shooting but this ‘investigation’ group knew about the issues and didn’t get the kid the intervention help he needed?
Sarah Rankin, AP reporter, seems to be painting Jones as dishonest and having been ‘hazing’ others, and then trying to distance the university from any university responsibility of involvement because they screwed up and did not do what they were suppose to do.
But…. time will tell
clarification for “A person is only obligated to report a ‘felony’ conviction and then in only certain circumstances (e.g. employment, in court testimony when asked).”
This ‘investigation’ was in relation to him having a gun. A person is only obligated to report a ‘felony’ conviction in relation to a gun (or other felony convictions) in only certain circumstances (e.g. employment, in court testimony when asked … trying to buy a gun, etc…). A person is never obligated to report a felony or misdemeanor conviction to a non-law enforcement ‘investigative entity performing an investigation’ for some offense or suspicion even if they some way or another require it.
“…honor the lives of the victims, as well as the two people injured.”
if you survive, you’re not a victim.
if you survive, you’re not a victim.
Excuse me? Any time you suffer an injury of ANY kind (physical, mental, financial, etc) at the whim of another person, thing or circumstance you ARE a victim. You do NOT need to die to be a VICTIM.
victim noun
vic·tim ˈvik-təm
1: one that is acted on and usually adversely affected by a force or agent
the schools are victims of the social system:
(1): one that is injured, destroyed, or sacrificed under any of various conditions
a victim of cancer
a victim of the auto crash
a murder victim
(2): one that is subjected to oppression, hardship, or mistreatment
a frequent victim of political attacks
b: one that is tricked or duped a con man’s victim
2: a living being sacrificed to a deity or in the performance of a religious rite
rule #1: can’t arrest, criticize, jail, offend a dindu
Sounds like the hazers got hazed.
Some good comments here but many are best left unsaid until after the trial and all the facts come out. My observation, given the facts as published so far is that a reportedly intelligent person acquired a hand gun and used it for unknown reasons to commit a capital crime, the taking of a human life. Kind of cold, I know, but little is publically known about the lives involved, though I understand that there is little if any justification for such a senseless, violent act.
It was “disrespected” and its feeelz got hurt over some Frat hazing… Reason enough to end the lives of three young men? It thought so.
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