Memphis Athlete Killed on Campus
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MEMPHIS — A University of Memphis football player was fatally shot on campus in what was believed to be a targeted attack, and classes were canceled today as a precaution, officials said.
Taylor Bradford, 21, was shot near a university housing complex about 9:45 p.m. yesterday and then got into a car, driving a short distance before it crashed into a tree, officials said.
University officials said the believed the gunman left campus immediately after the shooting. No arrests had been made today.
“We found him with a bullet wound to the body and the ambulance took him to the hospital where he was pronounced (dead),” a Memphis police inspector, Roger Prewitt, said.
Bradford, a 5-foot-11, 300-pound defensive lineman from Nashville, was a junior who transferred to Memphis after two seasons at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
“Our entire football team is deeply saddened by the loss of Taylor,” the head coach, Tommy West, said in a statement. “He was well respected and a popular member of our team. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
University officials closed residence halls on campus temporarily before police learned that the shooting was likely personal, a spokesman, Curt Gunther, said.
In an e-mail alert sent to faculty, staff and students at 3:40 a.m. today, officials wrote that “the initial investigation indicates this was an act directed specifically toward the victim and was not a random act of violence.”
The university decided to cancel classes today, although police believe the person or persons involved in the shooting left the campus immediately.
“We feel like the campus is safe, but we’d rather err on the side of safety than not,” Mr. Gunther said.
The school’s administrative and athletic officials were meeting this morning to discuss the shooting.
The Memphis Tigers host Marshall University’s Thundering Herd tomorrow night. A moment of silence was planned before the game.
Bradford transfered to the school in 2006 and was on the roster this season, but had not made any plays to be listed in the team’s statistics.
Bradford lettered in three sports at Nashville’s Antioch High School, and held school records in shotput and discus.
