HOPE – Flags are flying at half-mast in Hope in remembrance of a Hauser High School senior killed in a shooting over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Jesse W. Bragg, 18, son of Hope Town Councilman Jerry Bragg, was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot Saturday night in a residence in the 300 block of Elm Street in Hope, according to investigators.
A GoFundMe account has been created to help the family. All donations will help the Jerry and Mary Bragg family cover funeral costs and support themselves through this difficult time, according to the GoFundMe site.
The fundraising organizer is Shanon Pittman, one of two Republicans who defeated Jerry Bragg, a Democrat, in his effort to retain his at-large Hope Town Council seat. Bragg has served on the town council since 2014, spending this year as president.
Investigators have arrested a Fowler teenager, Joseph T. Kidwell, on a preliminary charge of reckless homicide in the Saturday night shooting. Kidwell was being held in the Bartholomew County Jail pending filing of charges by the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s office.
While the case remains under investigation, a description on the GoFundMe account describes the shooting as “a tragic accident.” As of noon Tuesday, $855 had been donated to the account.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
