A vigil for late IU student Schuyler Bradley was held in Dunn Meadow on Sunday night. Bradley was shot early Friday morning in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and died later that day.
At 8 p.m., more than 100 students holding candles gathered around the park’s stage to listen to loved ones speak about Bradley. A microphone was set up next to a large picture of the late student, candles and flowers set underneath.
“In Loving Memory,” the picture read.
Then, friends of Bradley spoke onstage expressing their grief for his passing and appreciation for the turnout for him.
“This is the first place besides my home that I've been since he's passed, and honestly I didn't want to come,” Bradley’s mother Daphne Groff said “But I was sort of excited because I knew people were going to be here but I didn't think it was going to be this many people.”
Bradley was a member of the Acacia fraternity. A post on the fraternity’s Instagram page said they are no longer whole without him.
“Schuyler was a bright light in this world. He had an impact on everyone he met, and this is evident in the overflowing love and support we have seen for him and his family while he was fighting,” the post said.
Bradley played football for Carmel High School, according to an Indianapolis Star article.
“I never ever thought at 41 years old that my son wouldn't be here,” Groff said to the crowd. “I didn’t think he was going to give up.”
Bradley’s mother described memories of him, as well as his final moments in the hospital.
“I walked over and I put my face on his face, and I kissed my baby,” Groff said. “And I said, it’s OK, you can go.”
She remembered her son’s dimples that she said could light up a room and green eyes that would make people stare.
Much of Bradley’s family attended the event, mourning the late IU student along with other students. Ghiche Bradley, Schuyler’s older brother, said his late sibling was a good person and that people noticed it. He said his brother was a hard worker and loved his family.
“We were best friends,” Ghiche Bradley said.
Support for Bradley and his family was seen at the event and through the GoFundMe page, which has raised more than $56,000 dollars.
“He loves hard,” Ghiche said. “He loves his friends, loves his family.”
