Clearfield native dies in Arizona shooting

BUCKEYE, Ariz. — The family of an Arizona corrections officer with ties to Utah is still in shock after he died in a shooting.

"We're just dumbfounded," said a family member Monday night who asked not to be identified.

According to local reports, 28-year-old Bradley Gerrard — originally from Clearfield — went to Wal-Mart around 11 p.m. Saturday to buy an air mattress for a visiting family member to sleep on. Just before midnight, police officers found his body in the middle of the road. It appeared he had been shot.

Police said they found Gerrard's partially burnt car several miles from his body.

Gerrard was an employee with Arizona Department of Corrections since 2004.

The family member said Gerrard leaves behind a pregnant wife and a child. He was described as an "amazing man" who was loved by family members and admired by co-workers and even prisoners.

"The prisoners loved him because he respected them," the family member said.

The family member said Gerrard showed everyone a copy of an ultrasound when his wife became pregnant with their second child.

Gerrard's body will be returned to Utah. A viewing is scheduled in Roy at Lindquist Mortuary from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Gerrard graduated from Clearfield High School in 1998 and married his high school crush, the family member said. The family member recalled Gerrard's wife saying it's so surreal that he is gone.

"He deserves so much more than this," the family member said. "It's just not fair and it's just not right."