As small college community mourns, suspect held without bond in Bridgewater College officer killings

About 200 Bridgewater College students and alumni gathered on Feb. 2 in the campus quad to sing the school’s official song, “Bridgewater Fair." BRIDGEWATER, Va.

Campus police officer John Painter, 55, and safety officer Vashon “J.J.” Jefferson, 48, were responding to a call Tuesday afternoon about a suspicious man near Memorial Hall, the oldest building on campus, known for its belfry and bell. Students and staff ring the bell on special occasions, such as a big athletic victory. In the shadow of the victory bell, Painter and Jefferson were fatally shot.

“Bridgewater is a family, and I don’t use that term lightly. It’s an academic community, but we care about each other,” said college President David W. Bushman at a news conference Tuesday night. “ were very well known to students. They were always seen together. Their relationship was very close as well, and so it’s meaningful, so we feel this very deeply.”Virginia State Police said Tuesday night there appeared to be only one person involved in the double killing.

Both Painter and Jefferson had worked in law enforcement elsewhere before working at Bridgewater. Painter was an officer, sergeant and then chief of a small police department in Grottoes, Va., also in Rockingham County.Jefferson previously worked as a safety officer at Shenandoah University from 2012 to 2018, and met his future wife while working and attending classes there.

To determine whether Campbell could afford an attorney, Rockingham General District Court Judge Ian Williams asked him what he did for a living. Campbell said he was self-employed, producing music and art, and had virtually no income. Apart from $1,000 in his bank account and a 2003 Mercedes-Benz, he had no assets. “Do you pay yourself anything?” the judge asked. “About $100 a week,” Campbell said. It was not clear whether he still lived with his mother in Ashland.

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