Photo: University of Virginia
Virginia Cavaliers running back Mike Hollins has been discharged from the hospital after being injured in the shooting that killed three of his teammates earlier this month, his mother, Brenda Hollins, tweeted Monday (November 21) morning.
"Mike has been discharged!!! HALLELUJAH I want to thank everyone for their prayers, text messages, and calls," Brenda Hollins wrote. "This has truly been a test of faith and I'm grateful. GOD has shown me he is faithful! Please continue praying for Mike as he recovers and settles into his new life. Please continue to pray for the Chandler, Davis, Perry families. They need us!!! GOD is amazing!"
Hollins' teammates, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D'Sean Perry were killed during an incident on a charter bus that took the UVA students back to the Charlottesville campus on the night of November 13.
A fifth student, Marlee Morgan, was also injured during the incident and is currently recovering at her family's home.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., who was listed as a member of the Cavaliers football team in 2018 but didn't appear in any games, was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in relation to the incident, CNN reports.
The 22-year-old was previously convicted in relation to a reckless driving and hit and run incident, as well as a concealed weapons charge in 2021, all of which received suspended sentences, remains in custody in Albermarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, according to online records accessed by CNN.
Jones and the three victims attended a field trip with other UVA students to see a play in Washington, D.C. on Sunday (November 13). Jones opened fire on the bus after it returned to the Charlottesville campus, killing Chandler, Davis and Perry.
UVA student Ryan Lynch was among the students on the bus during the shooting and said she saw Jones initially push Davis.
“After he pushed him, he was like ‘You guys are always messing with me.’ Said something weird like that, but it was very bizarre because they didn’t talk to him the whole trip," Lynch told KYW-TV.
“They just kept coming, more and more gunshots,” Lynch added. “We thought he was going to shoot everyone on the bus.”
Lynch said "the shooter just kind of walked or, like, skipped off the bus" after the incident took place.
On November 15, the University of Virginia admitted to knowing that Jones was previously convicted of a weapons charge weeks prior to the murder of the three football players.
The school issued a statement obtained by NBC News confirming it had been "reviewing a potential hazing issue" after the Office of Student Affairs "heard from a student that Mr. Jones made a comment to him about possessing a gun."
"The reporting party did not see Mr. Jones in possession of a gun," the statement read. "The comment about owning a gun was not made in conjunction with a threat."
The school said it had learned that "Mr. Jones previously had been convicted of a misdemeanor for a concealed weapons violation in 2021" as its probe continued, which spokesman Brian Coy specified was discovered "around mid-September" and that the suspect "had failed to disclose a conviction to the university, which is a requirement of university policy," NBC News reports.
The Office of Student Affairs decided "to escalate his case for disciplinary action" on October 27, but officials realized that the conviction was never relayed to the University Judiciary Committee after Sunday's shooting took place, according to the university's statement.
"In the wake of the shooting yesterday, Student Affairs officials discovered that the report had not been transmitted to the University Judiciary Committee (UJC), and are working to correct that," the school said.
Jones was listed as a member of the Cavaliers football team in 2018, but didn't appear in any games.
Initial gunfire was reported at a parking garage on Culbreth Road at 10:30 p.m. Sunday near the university's drama building, the UVA Office of Emergency Management said in a tweet.