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Coach: Slain VA football players ‘were all good kids’

Coach: Slain VA football players ‘were all good kids’

Newslooks- CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP)

Three University of Virginia football players killed in an on-campus shooting were remembered Monday by their head coach as “all good kids.”

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, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Charlottesville, Va., while returning from a class trip to see a play. (University of Virginia Athletics via AP)

Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry were juniors returning to campus from a class trip to see a play Sunday night when authorities say they were killed by a fellow student.

FILE – Virginia’s Lavel Davis Jr. (1) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during an NCAA college football game against Richmond in Charlottesville, Va. on Sept. 3, 2022. Davis was one of three Virginia football players killed in a shooting, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Charlottesville, Va., while returning from a class trip to see a play. (Mike Kropf/The Daily Progress via AP, File)

The young men were also members of the Virginia football team, journeying through periods of transition in their careers — whether it was bouncing back from a season-ending injury, changing positions on the team or transferring in from another school.

This undated image provided by University of Virginia Athletics shows NCAA college football player Lavel Davis Jr., one of Virginia three football players killed in a shooting, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Charlottesville, Va., while returning from a class trip to see a play. (University of Virginia Athletics via AP)

“They were all good kids,” head football coach Tony Elliott said early Monday afternoon. He said he would talk about the victims “when the time is right.”

The shooting happened just after 10:15 p.m. Sunday as a charter bus full of students returned from seeing a play in Washington. University President Jim Ryan said authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting.

This undated image provided by University of Virginia Athletics shows NCAA college football player Devin Chandler, one of Virginia three football players killed in a shooting, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Charlottesville, Va., while returning from a class trip to see a play. (University of Virginia Athletics via AP)

Police on Monday captured a university student, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, whom they say is suspected of shooting the three football players and wounding two others. Jones had once played on the football team, but had not been a member of the team for at least a year, police said.

This undated image provided by University of Virginia Athletics shows NCAA college football player D’Sean Perry, one of Virginia three football players killed in a shooting, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Charlottesville, Va., while returning from a class trip to see a play. (University of Virginia Athletics via AP)

Davis was a 6-foot-7 wide receiver from Dorchester, South Carolina. He finished the 2020 season ranked No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for average yards per reception, among many other accolades.

An undisclosed injury sidelined Davis for 2021 season but he returned this year, starting six of the first seven games. In the season opener against the University of Richmond, Davis caught four passes for 89 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown. He was on a watch list for 2022 Comeback Player of the Year.

FILE – Wisconsin wide receiver Devin Chandler runs up field during an NCAA college football game against Iowa, on Dec. 12, 2020, in Iowa City, Iowa. Chandler, who transferred to the University of Virginia, was one of three Virginia football players killed in a shooting, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Charlottesville, Va., while returning from a class trip to see a play. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Perry was a linebacker from Miami, Florida. In September, Perry told the Daily Progress he was called to the Cavaliers’ football offices where linebackers coach Clint Sintim said he needed Perry to move from linebacker to defensive end.

Perry told the newspaper it was “no problem at all. It was a smooth transition.”

“Honestly, I feel like I can do both (linebacker and defensive end),” Perry said. “And I prepared myself well to work in space and pass rush during the offseason. … So, both positions I’m very comfortable with and I’m just trying to help the team win.”

FILE – Virginia linebacker D’Sean Perry runs on the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Syracuse on Sept. 23, 2022 in Syracuse, N.Y. Perry was one of three Virginia football players killed in a shooting, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Charlottesville, Va., while returning from a class trip to see a play. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, File)

Perry appeared in seven games this year and made seven tackles.

Chandler was a wide receiver from Huntersville, North Carolina. He recently transferred from Wisconsin. His accomplishments for the Badgers included a 59-yard kickoff return and 18-yard rush in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Wake Forest in 2020.

“Once a badger, always a badger,” University of Wisconsin interim head coach and Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard tweeted Monday in the wake of Chandler’s death.

“He had a lasting impact on his teammates, even after he left UW, which is a testament to the type of person he was,” Leonhard wrote. “His personality was infectious and he was a joy to be around. Our team is hurting for him and his family.”

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