Virginia lawmakers pass college threat assessment legislation three months after deadly UVA shooting

Three months after the deadly shooting at the University of Virginia (UVA), the state’s General Assembly passed college threat assessment legislation intended to help prevent future violence.

Three student athletes were killed in the shooting at UVA in Charlottesville on Nov. 13, and an additional two students were injured. Fellow student Christopher Jones was arrested the following day and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony in connection to the shootings.

On Monday, both chambers of Virginia’s General Assembly voted to pass the bill, which outlines how such institutions should respond to a dangerous threat on campus. The measure now awaits Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) signature to become law.

If it is signed, threat assessment teams at public higher education institutions would need to obtain criminal history records and health records for any individual who “poses an articulable and significant threat of violence to others.” The team would then need to notify the police and disclose information on the particular threats from that individual, according to the bill.

The bill will also require that the state’s secretary of education and secretary of public safety and homeland security establish a task force to investigate the “best practices” for the threat assessment teams at the institutions to provide legislative recommendations. The bill said that the task force will submit its findings no later than Dec. 1.

UVA had begun the process of taking disciplinary action against Jones due to incidences with firearms in October, but a report did not make it to the University Judiciary Committee, according to CBS 6 News Richmond.

The new bill seeks to streamline the process when assessing threats on campus, such as including reporting threats to police authorities.