Footballers die in University of Virginia shooting suspect in custody

Three members of the University of Virginia football team were shot and killed on campus, the school president said.

Two others were injured in the shooting, which occurred on a bus filled with students returning from a field trip on Sunday evening.

The suspect is now in custody, said university president Jim Ryan.

An earlier shelter in place order for the campus has now been lifted.

"One of our students, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr, is suspected to have committed the shooting," the university said in a statement.

The shooting reportedly took place at around 22:30 local time (03:30 GMT) Sunday at a garage on Culbreth Road, on the university's Charlottesville campus.

"It resulted in three fatalities; two additional victims were injured and are receiving medical care," President Jim Ryan said in a letter to the university community posted on social media.

The victims were identified as Devin Chandler, a second-year student from Virginia Beach, Deshaun Perry, a fourth-year student from Miami, Florida, and Virginia Lavell Davis, a third-year student from Rich Hill, South Carolina.

The suspect was said to be at-large soon after the shooting, and was described by the police as wearing a burgundy jacket, blue jeans, red shoes and possibly driving a black sport-utility vehicle. They urged family and friends of those on campus to call an emergency hotline for more information about the episode.

On Monday afternoon, the university said the suspect has been caught and is in custody.

"I am devastated that this violence has visited the University of Virginia," said Mr Ryan, the university's president.

Classes were cancelled on Monday.

The university is considered among one of the most prestigious in the country and ranked number three in public universities in the US, reports BBC.