CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- While delivering a briefing on the shooting that killed three University of Virginia football players, UVA Police Chief Tim Longo was called away from the podium for an important update.
"Pardon me," he said as he stepped away from the microphone in the middle of the briefing.
After conferring with a police captain, Longo continued, "We just received information the suspect is in custody. I just need a moment to thank God and breathe a sigh of relief."
When the news conference began, Longo said officials were “reasonably confident" the shooter was no longer on school grounds and urged the public to call 911 immediately if they saw him or the black SUV he was believed to be driving. Longo then received word that Christopher Darnell Jones Jr.
Two other students were wounded in the shooting late Sunday night, which happened near a campus parking garage as a charter bus full of students returned from seeing a play in Washington, D.C. for a class field trip. Ryan said one of the students was in critical condition and the other student was in good condition at a local hospital.
Earlier in the briefing, UVA President Jim Ryan identified the shooting victims as D'Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr., and Devin Chandler.
The shooting touched off an intense manhunt, with authorities ordering students to shelter in place and conducting a building-by-building and grounds search of the campus. Students stayed in place for more than 12 hours until the order was lifted late Monday morning.
Longo said police have obtained arrest warrants for Jones charging him with three counts of murder and three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He said the bus filled with students had just returned to campus when the shooting began.
