US university shooting suspect in custody

Washington, Nov 15

Police have in custody a University of Virginia (UVA) student suspected to have fatally shot three people and injured two others at the schools main campus in Charlottesville.

"Police have the suspect in custody," the Charlottesville-based university tweeted on Monday.

The suspect has been identified as 22-year-old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a UVA student and former football player, reports Xinhua news agency.

The shooting occurred late Sunday night and triggered a campus lockdown as well as a manhunt.

All three of the victims were football players, UVA President Jim Ryan told reporters on Monday.

Two students were wounded, with one in good condition and the other in critical condition, according to Ryan.

"I am devastated that this violence has visited the University of Virginia," he said in a message. "This is a traumatic incident for everyone in our community."

All classes were cancelled on Monday, with only designated UVA employees required to report to work.

It remains unclear what led to the shooting.

The suspect was listed on the UVA's athletic website as a running back for the football team in 2018.

In a statement on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denounced the "senseless shooting".

She said that President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were mourning with the UVA community.

"Our deepest condolences are with the countless families, friends, and neighbours grieving for those killed as well as those injured in this senseless shooting," the Press Secretary was quoted as saying in the statement.

"Too many families across America are bearing the awful burden of gun violence."

At least 68 shootings have occurred this year on US school grounds, including 15 on college campuses, with at least one person shot in each case, not including the shooter, according to CNN.

The deadliest school shooting in modern US history remains the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, where a 23-year-old student killed 32 people before dying by suicide.

The shooting at the Charlottesville campus is also one of nearly 600 mass shootings in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.