21 year old Taylor Bradford, was shot at 9:45 Sunday evening, in a campus
housing complex parking lot, while believed to be in his car, in what's been
reported as a targeted attack. Due to the fact they believe it was targeted,
officials reportedly weren't convinced that there was any further threat posed
to the university students, however, they took precautions regardless and
cancelled classes for Monday.
Reportedly, after being shot, the football
player drove his car, went off the road and crashed into a tree. Taylor Bradford
was a 300 lb, 5 ft 11 defensive lineman hailing from Nashville, transferred from
Samford University in Birmingham, Ala to the Memphis University when he was a
junior and spent two seasons at Samford.
"We found him with a bullet
wound to the body and the ambulance took him to the hospital where he was
pronounced dead," Roger Prewitt reportedly stated, who is a Memphis Police
inspector.
The evening before the University had held a rally, focusing
on lowering the violence at their school. By 3:40 a.m. Monday, an e-mail was
sent out to the students, faculty and staff reportedly stating, "the initial
investigation indicates this was an act directed specifically toward the victim
and was not a random act of violence."
Officials believed the shooter
fled from the scene, and did not intend to return to the University, however,
every precaution is being taken to ensure the safety of the University.
To watch the Fox News Broadcast, who was on the scene click the link
below.
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/launchPage.html?100107/100107_ff_memphis2
& DeadlyShooting & FNL &
StudentshotandkilledatUniversityofMemphis & US & -1
& DeadlyShooting & VideoLaunchPage & News &
/video2/images/100107_100107_ff_memphis2_320x240.jpg The details as
to why the shooting took place is unknown, but the discussion on how we need to
protect the school yards, from grade school to university, needs to be
addressed. My heart goes out to his family, and classmates. School shootings is
a sad and terrifying thing to comprehend, whether it was targetted to one, or
randomly any, but thank goodness the authorities reacted quickly, and took all
precautions to ensure no one else could be hurt.
Peace and Love
Sacreeta
