The University of Virginia student charged with fatally shooting three football players killed one victim who was sleeping, NBC News reported.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, appeared via video link from jail for his first court appearance Wednesday morning. He did not enter a plea.
Jones is accused of killing three members of the school's football team and wounding two other students in an on-campus shooting Sunday night. He will be held without bond, a judge ordered.
Prosecutors said Jones shot the victims after they returned from a field trip over the weekend and appeared to be aiming at "certain people."
Prosecutor James Hingeley, from the Albemarle County Commonwealth Attorney's office, said Jones shot victim Devin Chandler while he was sleeping, according to a witness.
The witness reported that Jones was aiming at "certain people" and "not randomly shooting," Hingeley said, NBC News reported.
Jones appeared emotionless, dressed in a black and white jail uniform, during the hearing, NBC News reported. He was appointed a defense attorney on an interim basis.
"I will be seeking my own counsel," he told the court, NBC News reported.
The judge also set a status hearing in the case for Dec. 8.
Football players Lavel Davis Jr. and D'Sean Perry also were shot fatally. Two others, one of them also a football player, were shot and wounded.
One victim remained hospitalized in serious condition and another was being discharged Tuesday, University of Virginia Health spokesperson Eric Swensen said, according to NBC News.
Jones, who police have said was able to flee the scene, set off a manhunt and a 12-hour campus lockdown. He faces three counts of second-degree murder, two counts of malicious wounding, and additional gun-related charges.
Jones' father said he's in shock by the violence and that his son recently told him some people were "picking on him." He told NBC affiliate WWBT that he hadn't talked to his son in a month.
Christopher Darnell Jones Sr., told WWBT, "I can't believe it was him. I still can't believe it now."
Classes at the state university resumed Wednesday, though the school announced it was canceling its final home football game of the season, a Saturday game against Coastal Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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