Chadwell on cancellation of game after deadly shooting: ‘We’re 100% behind University of Virginia’

CONWAY, S.C. (WMBF/AP) - The Chanticleers’ game against the University of Virginia scheduled for Saturday has been canceled, the University of Virginia announced via social media Wednesday morning.

The two teams were set to play at UVA at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

The cancelation comes after three students were killed during a shooting at the UVA campus parking lot.

CCU head football coach Jamey Chadwell held his weekly news conference on Wednesday, where he said his team and the CCU community support the decision.

“We’re 100% behind the University of Virginia and support this decision for them and their program,” Chadwell said. “We continue to pray for their community, for their university, specifically for the victims, the victims’ families, Coach Elliott, staff and the players. This is just a challenging and difficult time they’re going through... we’ll continue to uplift them not only this week but for a while because it’s going to be a long time before they can start the healing process.”

The three slain students were identified as Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry, all members of the UVA football team.

Chadwell said that when news started coming out that the three victims were members of the football team, him and his staff took the time to sit down with the team and talk about the tragedy and be there for their players.

“We just talked about life is short, there’s evil that exists and it’s OK to ask why stuff like that happens. We don’t have the answer to why it happened, but we do know there’s evil that exists and that we love our team. We made sure we prayed and uplifted them during that time in our meeting and just talked about how precious life is... and try to make sure you make the most of every moment,” Chadwell said.

Davis was a former Woodland High School student from Dorchester County. He was a former wide receiver for Woodland High School and earned all-state honors after making 40 catches for 622 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior and was selected to play in South Carolina’s North-South all-star game. He also played basketball and ran track for Woodland High School.

Chadwell remembered Davis during recruitment and said he had a huge presence not just on the football field, but in his community.

“He was tremendous, just had a smile that would light up the room. He was 6′6″, 6′7″ so he was already a presence anyway, just very humble and he obviously cared about football but the time I remember about him he obviously had a lot of interest and he could see there was just a bigger picture than just football. For his community, his family, I know it’s a challenging time. He was a great light for Woodland and that community there,” Chadwell remembered.

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Two other students were wounded and hospitalized.

One was discharged from the UVA Medical Center on Tuesday, according to Eric Swensen, a health system spokesperson.

A family spokesperson for Mike Hollins, a running back on the team who was shot in the back, said he was showing signs of improvement Tuesday after a second surgery. He was removed from a ventilator and was able to visit with family and friends in his hospital room, said Joe Gipson, the chief operating officer of a law firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Hollins’ mother, Brenda Hollins, works.

Law enforcement identified the suspect as Christopher Darnell Jones, Jr., who was listed as a member of the UVA football team in 2018.

Jones is charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony.

Jones, a former football player, appeared by video link from a local jail for the court hearing Wednesday. He did not enter a plea to the numerous charges he faces and said he plans to hire an attorney. A judge ordered him held without bond and appointed a public defender to represent him until he secures private counsel.

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