Memphis lineman killed

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Memphis Will Play Despite Death of Bradford

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A University of Memphis football player was fatally shot on campus in what police believe was a targeted attack, and classes were canceled Monday as a precaution.

 

Taylor Bradford, 21, apparently was shot near a university housing complex at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday and then crashed a car he was driving into a tree a short distance away on campus, officials said.

 

"We found him with a bullet wound to the body and the ambulance took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced [dead]," said Roger Prewitt, a Memphis Police inspector.

 

Detectives investigating the shooting received reports of gunfire being heard in a parking lot of the housing complex about 200 yards from where Bradford was found, police spokeswoman Monique Martin said.

 

Homicide detectives were unsure of a motive for the shooting and had no immediate suspects, she said.

 

"That's all still under investigation," she said.

 

University president Shirley Raines said that witnesses told police they saw more than one person leaving the scene who could have been involved.

 

The initial investigation indicates this was an act directed specifically toward the victim and was not a random act of violence.

 

Residence halls in the surrounding area were closed to outsiders immediately, and residents were advised not to go outside. Students, faculty and staff were told by e-mail early Monday morning that classes were canceled.

 

In an e-mail alert to faculty, staff and students at 3:40 a.m. Monday, 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 Monday, 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 safety than not," Gunther said.

 

"I certainly understand [the decision] in the wake of Virginia Tech and how that was scrutinized," David Dunlap Jr., a 37-year-old law student, told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "I think the administration is going to error on the side of caution given that criticism."

 

The massacre at Virginia Tech occurred April 16, when a lone student gunman killed 32 people and injured dozens before committing suicide in what was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

 

The school's administrative and athletic officials were meeting Monday morning to discuss the shooting.

 

Memphis plays host to Marshall on Tuesday night on ESPN2. A moment of silence was planned before the game.

 

Bradford, a 5-foot-11, 300-pound defensive lineman, 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," 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."

 

Bradford, a resident of Nashville, transferred to Memphis in 2006 and was on the roster for this season, but had not played in a game this season.

 

Bradford lettered in three sports at Antioch High School in Nashville, and held school records in shot put and discus.

 

The University of Memphis had 20,562 students enrolled for last fall, according to its Web site.

 

The school was founded in 1912 as West Tennessee State Normal School and was renamed Memphis State College in 1941. It became Memphis State University in 1957, two years before it admitted its first black students. It was renamed the University of Memphis in 1994.

 

In other campus violence, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst football player was listed in fair condition Monday after being stabbed in a fight on campus over the weekend. Freshman Johnny Evans, 18, of Durham, N.C., was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with a stab wound to the buttocks and less-serious cuts, school officials said.

 

Evans was injured in one of two fights that broke out early Sunday when hundreds of students were leaving the Student Union Building after a dance. A second student also was injured, but refused medical attention. No arrests had been made as of Monday, and police continued to investigate what caused the fights.

 

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Very sad.........