UVA Shooting Victim's Father Posts 4-Word Message After Son's Death

The father of a student who was fatally shot at the University of Virginia on Sunday posted a four-word message after his son's death.

"Lord please help me," Lavel Davis Sr. said in a Facebook post on Monday, The Roanoke Times reported.

The post comes shortly after the shooting on Sunday that left three individuals dead, including Lavel Davis Jr., who was a member of the University of Virginia football team. The two other victims were also members of the football team and identified as Devin Chandler and D'Sean Perry.

The University of Virginia Police Department identified the suspected shooter as Christopher Darnell Jones.

In addition to Davis Sr., the cousin of Davis Jr. and Newberry College assistant football coach Sean Lampkin also posted a tribute on Monday.

"Saddening, saddening news this morning. God took one of his most kind, humble, loving soldiers off of the battlefield last night," Lampkin wrote in a tweet. "Please pray for my family as we are devastated by the passing [of] my cousin Lavel Davis Jr. Love and already miss you, kid."

WRIC-TV in Virginia reported on Monday that Jones was also a member of the University of Virginia football team in 2018.

The parents of D'Sean Perry also issued a statement on Monday which was posted to Twitter by Preston Willett of CBS 19 News in Charlottesville.

"Right now, Happy and Sean will not speak publicly about the incident as their grief is only beginning, and out of respect for the University of Virginia community which has been terrorized by another mass shooting in the United States," the statement said in part.

During a press conference on Monday, University of Virginia Police Chief Tim Longo announced that Jones had been taken into custody. Longo previously said that he was planning to charge Jones with three counts of second-degree murder, among other charges.

Longo also revealed that the University of Virginia Office of Student Affairs notified a threat assessment team at the school about Jones owning a gun.

"The comment about Jones owning a gun was not made in conjunction with any threats," Longo said on Monday.

Following the report, which came from a person not affiliated with the university's threat assessment team, officials attempted to speak with Jones and his roommate. The roommate notified officials that he never saw a gun, Longo said.

Newsweek previously reached out to the University of Virginia Office of Student Affairs for comment.