By Mark Maynard/Kentucky Today
FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – One student was killed and another critically injured in a shooting on the campus of Kentucky State University on Tuesday afternoon. The suspect, a 48-year-old Evansville, Ind., man, was identified in a news release and is in custody.
The injured person was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition, the Frankfort Police Department said in an update shared on social media at 4:35 p.m. The names of the students have not been released.
The city of Frankfort identified the suspect as Jacob Lee Bard in a news release Tuesday evening. Bard has been lodged into Franklin County Regional Jail on charges of murder and first-degree assault, according to jail records.
It has not been revealed why Bard was on the KSU campus or the relationship he had with anyone at the university.
“Out of respect for both students and their families, the university will not release identifying or additional medical information at this time,” the university said. “We are in close contact with the families and are providing every available support to them.”
Shortly after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 911 dispatch received a report of multiple people being shot at Kentucky State University’s Whitney Moore Young Jr. Hall. The dormitory, which is located at 106 South University Drive, is one of the newer buildings on campus and is right next to East Main Street.
The Frankfort Police Department responded to a report of “an active aggressor,” and the campus was “on lockdown until further notice,” police said in a social media post around 3:35 p.m. “Frankfort Police Department, in partnership with KSU Campus Police and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office have secured the campus and have a suspect in custody.”
KSU President Koffi Akakpo said at a news conference Tuesday night that “our students need prayers. Kentucky State University needs prayers.”
He called the shooting a “senseless tragedy” and they are “mourning the loss of one of our students. As a parent, I cannot imagine receiving the call I placed today to the parents.”
The university issued a statement, saying they would provide counseling and support for students, faculty and staff who may be impacted. “We encourage anyone in need of assistance to contact the University’s counseling services,” the statement said.
Xavier McFalls, who leads the Baptist Campus Ministry at Kentucky State University, said students were grieving over what was happening.
“Several different ministries have responded to the incident and are here on campus to pray for students as they are grieving,” he said.
McFalls came back to campus after spending the past two days at the Kentucky Baptist Convention Mission Board meeting in Louisville when he learned of the shooting. McFalls rushed back to do whatever he could to counsel and console students.
“The main thing is students are definitely sad and many of them want to encourage their peers,” he said. “Students want to be there for those grieving Not only BCM students but, in general, all the students.”
It is a somber mood on the campus on what is the last week of school before the winter break, he said.
The incident “hits close to home” for McFalls, whose brother, Dee, was a victim to gunfire three years ago. “It hurts,” he said.
McFalls plans on being available to all students Wednesday for as long as he is needed to counsel.
It is the second shooting reported on campus in the past five months. Two people were injured in August, when some people in a car opened fire on a group near Young Hall.
Kentucky State is a public historically Black university with about 2,200 students. Lawmakers authorized the school’s creation in 1886.
This article was originally published by Kentucky Today.
Mark Maynard is the managing editor of Kentucky Today.
