CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia —

A former University of Virginia student pleaded guilty Wednesday to fatally shooting three football players and wounding two students on the Charlottesville campus in 2022.

Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 25, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and five counts of use of a firearm. The four-day sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin Feb. 4 in Albemarle County Circuit Court.

Authorities said Jones opened fire on a charter bus as he and other students returned to campus after seeing a play in Washington, D.C., and eating dinner together.

Authorities did not give any reason. Jones was a former member of the university’s football team at the time of the attack. A witness told police he targeted specific victims.

Football players Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were killed, while the fourth member of the team, Mike Hollins, and fellow student Marlee Morgan were also injured.

The shooting occurred near a parking lot, sparking panic and a 12-hour quarantine on campus until the suspect was captured. His trial on murder charges and other charges was scheduled for January.

A few days after the shooting, university leaders had requested an outside review to investigate UVA’s security policies and procedures, its response to the violence and its previous efforts to assess the potential threat to the student ultimately accused. School officials acknowledged he was previously on the radar of the university’s threat assessment team.

In June, an attorney representing some of the victims and their families said the university had agreed to pay $9 million in settlement.

Kimberly Wald said at the time that the school would pay $2 million each to the families of the three dead students; this is the maximum amount allowed under Virginia law. The school will also pay a total of $3 million to two injured students.

Following the agreement, some families called for an immediate independent investigation into the shooting, which was completed last year.

Wald said the university should have removed Jones from campus before the attack because he showed multiple red flags for erratic and erratic behavior.

University officials said they delayed the release of the report last year out of concern that it could affect a trial scheduled for January.