(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.) — University of Virginia sophomore Ryan Lynch told ABC News that she’s still traumatized and mourning the loss of her three friends, Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry who were shot in a bus that was on campus, and the memory is still fresh in her mind.
Lynch was on that bus that was returning from a school trip Sunday night to a play in Washington, D.C., and recalled that she heard the gunshots go off as she was picking up her belongings.
She and a friend who was sitting nearby immediately got on the floor and got under cover, but Lynch said she kept her eyes open.
“I saw the shooter pass me and he passed me very slowly. So I was scared that with all the shots that were fired, he had shot everyone on the bus. So I thought he was going to shoot me too,” Lynch told ABC News’ Linsey Davis. “I just sat there quiet, still didn’t say anything. And thank goodness he just passed me and went off the bus.”
After the shooting stopped, Lynch said she and her friend went over to Davis Jr. and attempted to perform CPR.
“So we said, ‘We’re trying to help you. We’re going to get help for you. There’s nothing we can do, but we’re right now. But we’re going to get help for you,'” Lynch said.
Two other students were wounded in the mass shooting.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., who also attended the trip, was taken into custody Monday morning following an overnight manhunt. He has been charged with several criminal counts including three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony. Jones Jr. didn’t enter a plea during a Wednesday court appearance.
Investigators said that Jones targeted the three victims, but they are still trying to determine a motive. Jones was on the football team but he didn’t play in any games.
Lynch said she had met and talked Jones previously in the school year and said there weren’t any signs of strange behavior.
“I remember during the play he was not sitting with anyone,” she said. “But it didn’t seem very unusual because he was not in our class.”
Lynch said she was close with Davis Jr., Chandler and Perry, who were also her classmates, and got emotional when talking about them.
“They were some of the kindest and most compassionate guys I have ever met. They truly lit up the room and made that glass just so enjoyable,” she said. “I just remember telling my sister, [and] my mom all the time how much I enjoyed that class because I knew I would be welcomed with open arms, especially by those three men in the class.”
Lynch said she wanted Davis Jr.’s family to know that he wasn’t alone in his final moments.
“One of us was with them after they were shot and we loved them so much,” she said.
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