Friday, December 17, 1999
Indiana shooting called likely suicide
Daughter hurt by accident, police say
BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
VEVAY, Ind. — A 14-year-old girl, shot in the head and in critical condition, was apparently the unintended victim of her father's suicide, police said Thursday.
Gary Bradford, 41, apparently fired a handgun twice late Tuesday night in a bedroom of his Main Street home, said Indiana State Police Detective Paul Adams.
With one shot, Mr. Bradford struck Allison Bradford, a freshman at Switzerland County High School. Then he fatally shot himself in the head.
“It's unclear now as to whether either shot was fired at Allison,” Detective Adams said. Police do not yet know what the girl was doing in the bedroom, or when she entered.
Mr. Bradford was one of several hundred Switzerland County area residents left jobless just before Christmas when a Nine West Co. shoe factory permanently closed Tuesday.
“That's definitely a fact and that could be” a motive, Detective Adams said. “If you lose your job, you're definitely going to be depressed, especially this time of year.
“Of course, we'll never know what was running through his head.”
Mr. Bradford had no history of depression, nor was there any indication of family conflict, police said.
Switzerland County High School teacher Michael Jones described Allison as “a very friendly, bubbly, typical young freshman girl, and (there were) definitely no signs of anything that would cause you to think otherwise.”
Students met with counselors this week and gathered to pray for her recovery. The annual Christmas dance will be held as planned this weekend, but the proceeds will be donated to the Bradford family, administrators said.
Although their investigation is not complete, police say they think the shooting was an accident.
“We're not going to close the book on it right away. We always want to look at what the forensics report says and what the experts say before we make any determinations,” Detective Adams said.
“But as it looks right now at face value, there doesn't appear to be any foul play or reason for criminal charges.”
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