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Community Comes Together to Celebrate Life of Shooting Victim

A couple of theater moms share how Bradshaw touched their children's lives.

Several hundred people filed into the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center in Bowling Green Thursday evening to remember a young man who touched countless lives. 

Brandon Bradshaw was shot just over a week ago by an off-duty Warren County court security officer. Kentucky State Police are investigating what led up to the shooting in a parking lot on the 31-W Bypass. For now, those closest to Bradshaw are celebrating his life.Family, colleagues, students, and theater moms celebrated 27 years of Brandon Bradshaw in a SKyPAC performance hall, a second home to the youth theater director.

"This was his dream job," said SKyPAC Executive Director Tom Tomlinson.

A slideshow featured birthdays and Christmases, his days as a soldier in Iraq, his wedding, and the births of his three sons. In laughter and tears, Bradshaw was remembered as a free spirit who never met a stranger and always shared his faith. 

Many of the young lives he influenced spoke of his unyielding kindness and passion for life.  

"His ambitions are now in all of us," said theater student Elizabeth Davenport.

His family says they wanted to have a celebration of life service because it’s a painful time for a lot of children that Bradshaw taught and mentored. Family members say they wanted to offer an alternative to the funeral, which is planned for Saturday at Living Hope Baptist Church. 

Lisa is a Scottsville native and WKU alum. She has worked in radio as a news reporter and anchor for 18 years. Prior to joining WKU Public Radio, she most recently worked at WHAS in Louisville and WLAC in Nashville. She has received numerous awards from the Associated Press, including Best Reporter in Kentucky. Many of her stories have been heard on NPR.
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