‘He tried to save their lives’: Mike Hollins’ mother says he is out of hospital following deadly UVA shooting

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WAFB) - A college football player who was hospitalized in the ICU for a gunshot wound has been discharged just days after a bullet tore through his body, family members say.

Mike Hollins’ mother, Brenda Hollins, announced the huge milestone in her son’s recovery via Twitter Monday, Nov. 21.

“Mike is a gift from God to me,” Brenda Hollins said.

Baton Rouge native Mike Hollins was among a group of students from the University of Virginia (UVA) returning to campus Sunday, Nov. 13, when a gunman shot several people on a bus in a campus parking lot.

Hollins and one other student survived their injuries and were taken to the hospital.

That other student has since been sent home; information provided by University Hospital suggests.

UVA athletics leaders said the three other shooting victims all died. Officials identified the three victims who died as D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis, and Devin Chandler. All three were student-athletes on the school’s football team along with Hollins.

Hollins’ mother told WAFB her son was shot trying to help and save other students.

“I mean, what can I say? He was going to save lives. He was going to his brothers and sisters on that bus, and he wanted to do what he had to do to get someone off of there,” Hollins said.

She said her son also had the chance to talk with the families of the three slain he considered brothers.

“He said today to D’Sean’s mother that he would do it again. It’s just his character,” Hollins said. “That’s the God in him. He knows God goes before him. He knows that. He moves because he knows that he’s covered.”

Talking with the other families was a moment Hollins felt her son needed to have to start the healing process.

“They were so grateful that Mike was still here,” Hollins said. “For the mothers to see him and tell him that they don’t want him to feel any survivor’s remorse because he’s here, and his brothers are gone. They reminded him there’s a reason why he’s still here, and he needed to hear that.”

The accused shooter is Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, a former UVA football player.

Jail records show Jones was booked into Henrico County Jail on Monday, Nov. 14 just before 6 p.m. on several charges including three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of firearm use in commission of felony (first offense). His bond was recently denied.

As far as justice goes, Brenda said that’s the last thing on her mind.

“That’s not my business. That’s between God and them. What I have to focus and concentrate on is Mike and his rehabilitation in getting him back on his feet, graduating, praying for the other families, and moving forward. What happens there, God said vengeance is mine, that’s not my business. So, I’m handling my business, and let God deal with the other,” Hollins said.

Hollins said her son is set to graduate in December. The goal is to get him back at full strength by next month so he can walk the stage to get his diploma.

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