http://www.wsmv.com/news/14241207/detail.html
Taylor Bradford, 21, was fatally shot on campus and classes were canceled Monday although police believe the shooting was not random, 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.
Bradford was taken to Regional Medical Center at 10:15 p.m. CDT and was pronounced dead, hospital spokeswoman Sandy Snell said.
University police declined to release the name of the student, but the incident "may have involved a current or former football player," said Bob Winn, associate athletic director at University of Memphis.
Bradford, a 5-foot-11, 300-pound defensive lineman from Nashville, is a junior who transferred to Memphis after two seasons at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
University officials closed residence halls on campus for about a half-hour after the shooting before police acquired information that the shooting was likely personal, spokesman Curt Gunther said.
In an e-mailed safety alert to faculty, staff and students sent 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.
The university 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.
Taylor Bradford, 21, was fatally shot on campus and classes were canceled Monday although police believe the shooting was not random, 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.
Bradford was taken to Regional Medical Center at 10:15 p.m. CDT and was pronounced dead, hospital spokeswoman Sandy Snell said.
University police declined to release the name of the student, but the incident "may have involved a current or former football player," said Bob Winn, associate athletic director at University of Memphis.
Bradford, a 5-foot-11, 300-pound defensive lineman from Nashville, is a junior who transferred to Memphis after two seasons at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
University officials closed residence halls on campus for about a half-hour after the shooting before police acquired information that the shooting was likely personal, spokesman Curt Gunther said.
In an e-mailed safety alert to faculty, staff and students sent 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.
The university 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.
