Memphis in Shock After University of Memphis Student, Taylor Bradford, is Shot Dead

Living in Memphis, you get used to hearing about violence. Yet, for some reason, the news of Taylor Bradford, University of Memphis defensive linebacker, comes as a shock to all of us. Perhaps it's because we're so aware of Taylor Bradford's presence on the University of Memphis football team. Local newscasts bearing news of game scores and highlights frequently mentioned his name with the recent start of the season, so to hear his name associated with a violent crime instead of game play seems surreal to most of those in the area.

Throughout the day, our local news broadcasters have broken in with the latest news. Which seems to be that, as of nearly 24 hours after Bradford's fatal shooting, there's still no strong leads on who was behind the shooting. Around 8:00 p.m. Central Time, authorities issued a statement notifying those with information that they were raising the reward from $10,000 to $15,000 for aid in the capture of the shooter.

When I first heard our local News Channel 3 station break in with news of the shooting here in Memphis, my first thought was that we had another Virginia Tech incident brewing in our midst. There was little information and the only thing one could truly register upon first hearing the news was "shooting," "University of Memphis" and "dead." Beyond that, not much else registered for a few moments.

We're familiar with violence in Memphis. For years, it has been an unfortunate staple of this city. With a mayoral election coming up, the topic of what the new mayor will do to fight crime is at the top of the list of topics to be addressed. How to stop the rampant violence in Memphis permeates every corner of the city. In fact, Taylor had just left a forum on how to stop violence only hours before he was fatally shot.

It doesn't seem like it should be too much to ask that we be able to go to school, to work, to the local shopping center or movie theatre without fear of being the victim of a violent crime, but here in Memphis, it's an all too real possibility. This latest casualty, a young man on the brink of what was to be the true beginning of his life, just brings the issues that we have here more into focus. With neighborhoods declaring that they're attempting to take back their homes from violent crimes, it seems the issue of violent crime in Memphis has surpassed the occasional billboard that declares "Gun Crime - Do the Time" and become an issue that citizens feel like they're fighting on their own.

In the meantime, local officials are asking for any information regarding the shooter. Those who have any information regarding Bradford's killers are urged to call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528 - CASH.