LSU head coach Brian Kelly calls UVA shooting 'senseless violence'

LSU head coach Brian Kelly was appalled to see what occurred at the University of Virginia on Sunday, where three football players were shot and killed by a former teammate. 

D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr., players for the UVA squad, were in a parking garage returning from a field trip with other students when the suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones, a 22-year-old former player, shot them and two others, one of whom was in critical condition at a local Virginia hospital.  

"Certainly a very tragic day in Charlottesville," Kelly said at his Monday press conference via OutKick. "And our thoughts and prayers are with the football players at Virginia who were victims of a shooting on their campus. It’s tragic. Our hearts go out to them, the football program, the university. It’s just senseless violence. You know, college campuses should be a place where it’s violent free. What happened yesterday is certainly heartbreaking, and we certainly pray for all those involved."

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Kelly added that some of his own LSU players knew the players that were shot. 

"Certainly hits close to home as well, having players that actually had relationships with players on the team," Kelly said. "Again, thoughts and prayers with everybody involved, and we will certainly keep an eye on this matter." 

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There was a 12-hour manhunt for Jones, as the UVA grounds were searched building by building. He was apparently facing a pending disciplinary matter after failing to report a prior Feb. 2021 criminal matter involving a concealed weapon violation that occurred outside Charlottsville, where the school is located. It’s a requirement of all students attending a Division I university. 

Jones was also involved in a hazing probe, which UVA Poilce Chief Timothy J. Longo explained on Monday. 

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"Mr. Jones has also come to the attention of our threat assessment team because he was involved in a hazing investigation of some sort," Longo said. "I don’t know the facts and circumstances of that investigation. I know it was eventually closed due to witnesses who would not cooperate with the process. But through the course of the threat assessment team’s investigation, we learned of a prior criminal incident involving a concealed weapon violation that occurred outside the city of Charlottesville in February 2021. 

"What’s interesting about that case [is] he’s required as a student at the University of Virginia to report that, and he never did, so the university has taken appropriate administrative charges through the university’s judiciary council, and that matter is still pending adjudication."

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Chandler was a second-year student from Virginia Beach; Davis was a third-year student from Ridgeville, South Carolina; Perry was a fourth-year student from Miami, Florida.