Patriots lend jet to UVA football players for teammates’ funerals

The New England Patriots lent their jet to University of Virginia football players so they could attend the funerals of their three teammates, who were killed earlier this month. The funerals were held in Miami, Virginia Beach and North Charleston, South Carolina, the hometowns of each player, according to CBS Sports.

The three players, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry, were shot and killed on a bus returning from a field trip in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 13. Police responded to a call of shots fired at approximately 10:30 p.m., and arrested a 22-year-old suspect, a former football player at the university.

Chandler was a second-year student, Davis was a third-year student and Perry was a fourth-year student, UVA President Jim Ryan said during a press conference. Two other students were wounded in the shooting.

Perry’s funeral was held in Miami on Saturday. Chandler’s was in Virginia Beach on Sunday and Davis’ is in South Carolina on Wednesday, CBS Sports reports. Patriots owner and CEO Robert Kraft sent the plane to Virginia to fly the teammates to each of the locations for free.

A former Virginia sports reporter spotted the jet at Charlottesville Albemarle Airport on Friday. “Just saw New England’s plane at CHO,” Brandon Lloyd tweeted. “What an amazing gesture.” 

After the shooting, the Cavaliers decided to skip the final two football games of the 2022 season. A vigil was held for the players after their deaths, CBS Sports reports.

The suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony. Two additional charges of malicious wounding and two related firearms charges were added, accounting for the shootings of the two other victims, Albemarle County Commonwealth attorney James Hingeley said. 

CBS News has reached out to the Patriots for more information and is awaiting response.