CORAL GABLES, Fla. — A lawyer representing the parents of a University of Virginia football player shot and killed on campus said the university made a "mistake" in the way it handled a potential threat posed by the alleged shooter before the shooting.
Attorney Michael Haggard made the remarks at a press conference on Thursday with D'Sean Perry's parents.
Haggard said Perry's parents were still proud to wear UVA colors because the school gave Perry an opportunity, however, they believe the school made a "mistake."
On November 13, 2022, three UVA students were killed and two others were injured in a shooting.
Perry, along with shooting victims Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler were all UVA football players.
The shooting happened as the students were on a bus returning to campus from a class trip to Washington D.C.
The alleged shooter, 23-year-old Christopher Jones, was a classmate and was on the same trip.
Haggard said when a student reported to UVA Student Affairs that Jones told them he had a gun, the school should have gone into Jones' dorm room and looked for the weapon.
Instead, Student Affairs contacted UVA's Threat Assessment Team (TAT) who tried to make contact with Jones.
Jones refused to cooperate.
The TAT then talked to Jones' roommate who gave no indication of the presence of any weapons, according to a university spokesperson.
During the investigation, university officials discovered Jones was previously convicted of a misdemeanor concealed weapons violation, but never reported that conviction to UVA, which the university requires.
Again, the TAT tried to contact Jones, but they still could not reach him.
"The threat assessment was not conducted properly and they could have removed him from campus well before this incident," Haggard said.
The Daily Progress reported in November that a search warrant issued for Jones' dorm room showed investigators found a semi-automatic rifle, pistol, ammunition, magazines, and a device used to make bullets fire faster.
UVA students are prohibited from having firearms on school property, and failure to comply could lead to expulsion.
Haggard said he planned to talk to the counsel appointed by the Attorney General to investigate the university's efforts prior to the shooting.
"We are exploring looking at the University of Virginia's responsibility here," Haggard said.
Jones is being held without bond on second-degree murder and other charges in the shooting, which set off a manhunt and 12-hour campus lockdown before Jones was apprehended in Henrico County. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 30, 2023.
