BREAKING: Arlington Community Schools has confirmed that one of the victims in this shooting, Devin Chandler, was a former football player at Arlington High School outside Memphis.
We’re heartbroken to learn about the death of a former Arlington High student and football player, Devin Chandler. He was tragically killed in the shooting last night at the University of Virginia. Although Devin did not graduate from AHS, having moved to North Carolina his senior year, we know his impact as a Tiger will live on with his Arlington teammates and those who knew him. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.
According to Virginiasports.com, Chandler played wide receiver and defensive back at Arlington High School before transferring to William Amos Hough High School in North Carolina for his senior season.
Chandler also was the Tennessee state runner-up in the 110 hurdles in 2019 and an honor-roll student.
Adam Sykes, who was Chandler’s head football coach at Arlington High School, expressed his grief in a statement Monday afternoon.
It’s devastating to hear what happened to Devin. No one deserves this but especially not a kid like Devin. He was one of the happiest young men I ever had to privilege of knowing. He was always smiling, and you saw him with every kind of group in the school. He just wanted to make those around him as happy as he was.
Devin’s family moved to Arlington before his freshman year, and athletically, we knew from the moment we saw him he was a very gifted player with a lot of potential. He started with the varsity team as a sophomore as a wide receiver and defensive back. He was voted 1st Team All-Region Receiver both his sophomore and junior years, so he was always a player we could count on. Even during his junior year when his dad passed away in the middle of the season, he came to me and said, “Coach, I want to play this week. My dad would want me to play this week.” That was just his character: always thinking of others.
It’s clear he’s remembered. When the news of his death spread this morning at the high school, teachers and people who knew him were immediately reminded of his goodness. Everyone gravitated towards him because of his personality, and his talent in football and track were just added reasons to root for his success. We lost him way too soon.”
Matthew Jenkins, head football coach at William Amos Hough High School, said Chandler left his mark on and off the field.
“When it’s somebody as Devin is, with as much as he had to look forward to in life, it’s shocking and it hurts, it hurts you, and you are saddened because of it. Every day he brought an energy and exuberance about him to practice and to school, everything that he did.”
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — The identities of all three people killed in a shooting on University of Virginia’s campus Sunday night have been confirmed.
Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis, Jr., and D’Sean Perry were killed in the shooting on the night of Sunday, Nov. 13. The University of Virginia held a press conference this morning and confirmed the identities of the victims, all three of whom were members of UVA’s football team.
Devin Chandler was a junior wide receiver and kick returner. He played football at Arlington High School in the Memphis area, as well as William Amos Hough High School near Charlotte, North Carolina. In high school, Chandler had a total of 128 catches for 2,391 yards and 33 touchdowns, as well as seven interceptions as a defensive back.
Before coming to UVA, Chandler played wide receiver and kick returner at the University of Wisconsin for two years, where he had two catches for 28 yards and returned ten kicks for 241 yards. He was yet to take the field for UVA, according to the team’s website.
Lavel Davis, Jr. a junior and wide receiver on the UVA football team, was one of the people killed in the shooting on the night of Sunday, Nov. 13. Sean Lampkin, a coach a recruiting coordinator for Newberry College in South Carolina and Davis’ cousin, confirmed in a tweet that he had passed.
Davis came to UVA from South Carolina, where he played wide receiver and safety at Woodland High School in Dorchester County. As a high school senior, Davis was an all-state wide receiver, having caught 40 passes for 622 yards and seven touchdowns. An a junior, Davis caught 70 passes for 1,007 and 15 touchdowns.
In 2020, Davis finished his freshman season at UVA with the second most average yards per reception in the nation with 25.75 and was the only player in college football with more than 500 receiving yards on 20 or fewer receptions, one of just five players in FBS to do so. Davis did not play during his sophomore season in 2021 due to injury.
D’Sean Perry was a junior linebacker and defensive end. A native of south Florida, Perry was named the South Florida Conference’s 2018 Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at Gulliver Prep in Miami , having finished the year with 89 tackles, 16 of which were for loss, as well as three sacks and three interceptions.
In his UVA debut as a sophomore in 2020, Davis returned an interception for an 84-yard touchdown on the final play — the second-longest “pick 6” by a linebacker in program history.
