In May 2024, the University of Virginia (UVA) and the Commonwealth of Virginia agreed to a $9 million settlement with the families and victims of a 2022 campus shooting that left three football players dead and two students injured. Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Claude V. Worrell II approved the settlements, which allocate $2 million each to the families of slain students D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr., and Devin Chandler. The two injured students, Mike Hollins and Marlee Morgan, received $3 million collectively.
The incident occurred on November 13, 2022, when UVA students returning from a class trip to see a play about Emmett Till were attacked by a gunman on their bus upon arrival at the Charlottesville campus. The shooter, identified as UVA student and former football team member Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., was apprehended after a 12-hour campus lockdown. He faces aggravated murder charges with his trial scheduled for January 2024.
The university was criticized for its handling of prior warnings about Jones. A student had reported in September 2022 that Jones claimed to have a gun, prompting a university threat-assessment team to investigate. They discovered his previous misdemeanor concealed-weapon conviction but could not compel his cooperation. UVA had initiated disciplinary actions against Jones shortly before the shooting occurred.
An independent review of the university's safety policies and response to the incident has been conducted by the Virginia Attorney General's office but remains confidential due to "attorney-client ethical rules." The university postponed releasing the report until the completion of criminal proceedings.