At least three people died and two others were injured at the University of Virginia, by the shots of a person who was identified as a student on campus and who was not captured.
“Three deaths resulted in two additional injured victims receiving medical attention,” President Jim Ryan said in a letter to the university community.
“This is a message any leader hopes they never have to send, and I am devastated that this violence has visited the University of Virginia,” Ryan said. “This is a traumatic incident for everyone in our community and we have canceled classes yesterday,” he stressed.
The event occurred on the main campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, about 200 kilometers southwest of Washington.
The university’s emergency management issued an alert last night, notifying the campus community of an active attacker’s firearm. The message warned students to shelter in place following a report of shots fired on Culbreth Road on campus.
In addition, it was decided to completely close the campus, according to the University of Virginia Police Department.
The UVA Police Department posted a notice online saying multiple law enforcement agencies, including state police, were searching for a suspect who was considered armed and dangerous.
The suspect, identified by police as Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., is believed to be armed and dangerous and may be driving a vehicle, they said.
The suspect was last seen wearing a burgundy jacket/sweatshirt, blue jeans and red shoes. Police said he may be driving a black SUV with Virginia license plate TWX3580.
Authorities said yesterday that multiple police departments are actively searching for Jones, including with the help of a Virginia State Police helicopter.
Jones is listed on the varsity athletics website as a football player in 2018, although in his first year on the team he did not appear in any games.
It is unknown if the alleged perpetrator of the shooting is still a student at the university and the reasons that have caused this event.