Henrico business owner met UVA shooting suspect hours before arrest

Henrico, VA (WRIC) — A local business owner in Henrico County Fatal shooting on UVA campus It was just hours before he was taken into custody on Monday morning.

Nowell Jinnette, owner of Acors & Griffith in Henrico East, says Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. is now charged with killing three and beating the Injuring two people, he walked straight through his business on Monday morning — just a few hours after he was arrested.

“I’m sitting here this morning getting everyone out on their daily rounds, and I’m looking out the window,” Jinnette said. “I saw a young man walking across the driveway, very close to the building.”

At the time, Kinnett had heard of the shooting, but had not seen a photo of Jones or recognized him. It took several hours for Jinnette to realize who the stranger was after a staff member in the office sent him a photo of Jones.

“When I saw this photo, I just glanced at it and said, ‘Man, I’m so glad they got him,'” Jinnette said. “And then about thirty minutes later, I looked at the photo again and said, ‘This is the guy who just walked by the store!'”

He said that around 8:15 a.m. — about two hours before Jones was arrested by Henrico police — Jones was walking around the building, trying to look through the darkened office windows at company trucks parked outside. But after only a few minutes, he turned and left.

“He didn’t choose this place to hide because there was nowhere to hide,” Jinnette said. “He’s coming to see somebody or somebody to get him out.”

“Just letting you know how small the world is, someone an hour and a half away can be standing in your building,” he added.

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