Memphis Students Deal with Murder of Taylor Bradford

With school shootings at Virginia Tech last spring and Delaware State last week, the hub of Memphis, the University of Memphis, had its collective innocence shattered when Tiger football player Taylor Bradford was murdered outside his student apartment on Sunday night. Unfortunate and tragic, the murder of Taylor Bradford brought students and the city of Memphis to a pause as fears of whether the incident was a random act or a targeted act against Taylor Bradford.

The most disconcerting thing that is being taken away from this is how students are communicated with in the aftermath of a campus shooting. When the Virginia Tech massacre took place last spring, a thorough review was undertaken and steps were taken both there in Blacksburg as well as at campuses around the country to ensure that a similar incident is not replicated on another institution of higher learning. However, Robin Summers, a university junior, said she was not notified until almost noon that the shooting had taken place.

If it was an incident similar to the one at Virginia Tech, throngs of students would have been in harm's way as university security staff decided that the incident was an isolated incident that posed no further harm to any students at the University of Memphis. It is not known how university law enforcement came to such a decision, but when pragmatism should rule the day, assuming that the perpetrators would not return and that their intent was solely to do harm to Memphis football player Taylor Bradford is a major decision. And with the appearance that it was made without a credible idea of why someone would want to shoot Taylor Bradford makes students like Robin Summers wonder if a more cautious, approach should be undertaken.

Amber Fisher, a transfer from Middle Tennessee State University arrived on campus without hearing anything had happened. A noticeable complaint from both Fisher and Summers was the fact that the university's warning sirens were not blaring, notifying students that something was askew on the main campus where three-quarters of the university's 20,000 students attend. With the crime happening on the north end of campus and late last night, certainly time was available to have the sirens on when students arrived on campus in the early morning hours today.

While some students began to receive their alert email before they headed for campus and others received a text around the same time the fact that everyone was not notified is concerning if you believe it is possible to notify everyone. One possible solution is digital signage near the primary entrances to the university that notify students and faculty that the campus is on lockdown and they can return to their homes without exiting their cars. For Amber Fisher, driving to the university is a twenty-five minute drive from her Whitehaven home. And with the bulk of the student population commuting to school, chances are many had a similar drive to get to their Monday morning campuses on the university's main campus.

This afternoon, I sat with Ms. Summers over a cup of coffee at High Point Coffee on Union Ave. in Midtown. Her humor about not being notified was unable to hide her leeriness at not knowing something heinous had taken place hours before she arrived for her morning Psychology class. She was concerned.

We are concerned.