The University of Virginia canceled its game against rival Virginia Tech scheduled for Saturday after three football players were killed on campus just over a week ago.
The university made the announcement Monday night, two days after a nearly two-hour memorial service in memory of Lavelle Davis Jr., Devin Chandler, and Dashin Berry. The three were killed on November 13 after a field trip to see a play in Washington.
“The decision was made following communication between the Atlantic Coast Conference, Virginia and Virginia Tech’s Department of Athletics management,” Virginia Tech said in a statement. “The ACC and Virginia Tech continue to support UVA after the devastating tragedy…”
Authorities said Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a UVA student and former member of the football team who was on the trip, began shooting at the students on the bus as it was parked in a parking garage on campus.
The public prosecutor said in court last week that a witness told police the gunman targeted specific victims and shot one of them while he was asleep. Two other students were wounded.
Jones, 23, facing second-degree murder and other charges stemming from the shooting, led to a 12-hour manhunt and campus lockdown before Jones was arrested in a Richmond suburb. Jones is being held without bond.
Authorities have not released a motive.
Virginia also canceled a game against 23rd-ranked Coastal Carolina last Saturday.
Neither the Cavaliers (3-7, 1-6 Atlantic Coast Conference), under first-year head coach Tony Elliott, nor the Hockey League (3-8, 1-6), under first-year head coach Brent Brey, have anything to lose. Not playing the Commonwealth Cup match, the last scheduled match for both.
The Hokies, who suffered a massacre that left 33 people dead, including the gunman, in 2007, wore orange uniforms as they ended their seven-game losing streak with a 23-22 victory over Liberty on Saturday. The Hokies and Virginia both share orange as their signature color.
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