MEMPHIS, Tenn., Oct. 1, 2007
Univ. Of Memphis Athlete Shot To Death
No Suspects In Campus Shooting Of Student-Athlete; School Cancels Classes
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Play CBS Video Video U. Of Memphis Athlete Killed "CBS News RAW": Classes were cancelled at the University of Memphis after 21-year-old football player Taylor Bradford was fatally shot on campus in what authorities are calling a targeted attack.
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Univ. of Memphis classes are cancelled today after the Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007 shooting death of junior defensive lineman Taylor Bradford. (University of Memphis/cstv.com)
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Scene of the crash: Univ. of Memphis junior Taylor Bradford, 21, after being shot in the chest by an unknown gunman, got back into his car and drove one block before crashing into a tree. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Sunday night, Sept. 30, 2007. (WREG)
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Taylor Bradford, 21, apparently was shot near a university housing complex 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.
Earlier Sunday night, Bradford reportedly stopped by all the sorority houses with his fraternity brothers to encourage all the sororities to participate in an upcoming fraternity event in order to promote diversity.
Bradford told one of his friends that he needed to go back to the apartment to get some keys, and that's when police say a gunman shot him, CBS Affiliate WREG-TV reports. Bradford got back into his car and drove one block where he crashed into a tree.
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 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.
"This was an act directed specifically toward the victim and it was not a random act of violence," she said.
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.
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.
The Memphis Tigers host Marshall University on Tuesday night. A moment of silence was planned before the game.
"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.
"Taylor was my brother," Bradford's friend and fraternity brother Will Terrell told the University of Memphis Daily Helmsman by phone from the hospital. "We will miss him dearly. He will be remembered. He loved to play football. He loved his family, he loved his friends and he loved Kappa. He was always full of innovation and ideas. If you were around him, you were going to have a good time."
Bradford lettered in three sports at Antioch High School in Nashville, and held school records in shotput 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.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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It is a little difficult to maintain someplace as a GUN FREE ZONE when everybody and their gramma has one, don''t ya think????
And even if you had a gun, if someone sneaks in and surprises you, it is unlikely your gun is going to help you. In fact pulling out your gun would probably get you killed for sure, when it could have been possible for you to escape that from happening.
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700 quintillion dollars. university is responsible
for his death. campus security''s fault. they
didn''t guard the campus well enuff. entire campus
security staff, fired, individually sued, they lose
everything become homeless. family of said victim
buys the state of tennessee. hungry lawyers cruising
for those wrongfully deceased. just like the woman
at the sky harbor airport. entire airline at fault
in that one. judge in said case, takes his cut,
jurors get their caught, and everyone''s happy, airline
goes broke, all the security personnel fired, sued
individually, lose everything become homeless and
eventually die in jail by their ''own hand''. five
shotgun shells to the back? obviously suicide sir.
looks that way to me, besides we don''t have the
budget to pay for an investigation so shine it on.
those taxes have to go for our salaries not
investigations, or for food for the prisoners.
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