sport news Patriots owner Robert Kraft 'lends team plane to Virginia football players to ... trends now

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft lent one of the team's two planes to University of Virginia football players attending the funerals of teammates who were killed in an on-campus shooting earlier this month.

Teammates D'Sean Perry, Devin Chandler, and Lavel Davis Jr. were murdered on November 13 aboard a charter bus as they returned to campus after traveling to Washington, where their class attended a play. 

Authorities have said that Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a UVA student and former member of the football team who was on the trip, began shooting students on the bus as it pulled to a stop at a campus parking garage. Two other students were wounded, including football player Mike Hollins.

Perry's funeral was held Saturday in Miami, while Chandler's was in Virginia Beach on Sunday, according to reports. Services for Davis will be held in South Carolina on Wednesday.

Brandon Lloyd, a former sportswriter from Charlottesville, Virginia, revealed the Patriots' generosity on Twitter: 'Just saw New England's plane at [Charlottesville Albemarle Airport]. What an amazing gesture.' 

Spokespeople for the Patriots have since confirmed to DailyMail.com that the team did, in fact, lend the plane to the players. 

NCAA spokespeople did not respond to inquiries about the gesture and whether or not it violated the organization's rules on impermissible gifts.

The Cavaliers, who cancelled their final two games of the season, did get good news last week, when Hollins was released from the hospital after being wounded.

'Mike has been discharged!!!' Brenda Hollins, Mike's mother, wrote on Twitter. 'HALLELUJAH I want to thank everyone for their prayers, text messages, and calls.

'This has truly been a test of faith and I'm grateful. GOD has shown me he is faithful!' she added. 'Please continue praying for Mike as he recovers and settles into

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