University of Virginia football player wounded in shooting undergoes second surgery
A University of Virginia football player underwent a second emergency surgery on Tuesday after he was critically wounded in a shooting in which three of his teammates were killed.
Brenda Hollins confirmed her son, Mike Hollins, a junior running back, was scheduled for the operating room at 8 a.m.
“Keep praying!!! And please keep praying for all of the families that are going through this horrific tragedy,” she said in a tweet.
His mother capped her request with Hollins’ jersey number, 7, and the praying-hands emoji. She did not provide further details about his care or the severity of his injuries, but a family friend told Sports Illustrated that Hollins was placed on a ventilator before undergoing his first surgery on Monday.
Hollins was one of two people wounded amid a mass shooting over the weekend. They were identified as as Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis and D’Sean Perry.
A fifth victim, who is not a football player, was also wounded amid the violence. He has not yet been named and was in stable condition as of Tuesday afternoon.
Police said the suspected gunman, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., opened fire on a bus of students returning to campus from a field trip to Washington, D.C., on Sunday night. He was on the run for 12 hours before authorities tracked him down to Henrico County and arrested him Monday morning.
Jones, who played for the Cavaliers football team his freshman year, is facing three counts of of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony, police said. His relationship with those shot was not clear and a motive in the shooting remained under investigation.
The suspect’s father, Christopher Darnell Jones Sr., said he was left shocked by his son’s alleged actions, but had said he had reason to believe bullying could’ve been a factor.
“He had some problems the last time I talked to him. He said some people was picking on him or whatever, he didn’t know how to handle it, and I just told him don’t pay it any mind and just go to school,” Jones Sr. told NBC12.
“He was really paranoid when I talked to him about something, but he wouldn’t tell me everything,” he continued. “He was a very sensitive young man.”
