Nearby College Mourns Tragedy

Bridgewater College faced a horrific situation Feb. 1 when an armed man shot and killed two campus first responders before being arrested.

  According to the Washington Post, the alleged shooter was identified as former Bridgewater student Wyatt Campbell. Campus, local and state police arrested him near the 1,500-student campus 30 minutes after the shooting. 

Police have charged Campbell with murdering  Campus officer John Painter and security officer Vashon “J.J.” Jefferson who responded to a call of an intruder on campus. 

Campbell is currently being held without bond and is set to be appointed a public defense attorney for his trial. His mother Cheryl Campbell spoke to the Richmond Times-Dispatch pleading for her son.

“My son is mentally ill, and he did something that I could not control, and no one could come to help him,” Campbell said.

The following day, the small Christian college hosted a gathering of about 200 students and alumni to sing the school’s anthem, “Bridgewater Fair.” The college’s choir director Ryan Keebaugh felt this was the way to show their strength after the unimaginable incident.

“This will be our response,” Keebaugh told the Washington Post. “Our response to tragedy. Our response to loss. The effects it has on all of us, not just within this institution but out across the United States and all over the world. Music will be our response. We come together as one.”

Currently there are plans for a joint funeral service for both officers, Painter and Jefferson, on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m. at James Madison University’s Atlantic Union Bank Center.

Gora is the news editor. Follow him on Twitter