Parent of student charged with deadly shooting at Kentucky State University

WEDNESDAY UPDATE:
A parent of a Kentucky State University student has been charged with murder in an on campus shooting that killed one student and critically injured another.

Jacob Lee Bard was at the school’s campus in Frankfort on Tuesday and fired shots at the victims at a residence hall, police said in a statement.

Investigators said the shooting was isolated, but they have not publicly shared details of the circumstances or a possible motive. The shooting killed 19-year-old De’Jon Fox of Indianapolis. A second student who was shot remains in critical condition, but his name has not been released, police said.

Bard, 48, was booked into jail on murder and first-degree assault charges. Police said Bard is from Evansville, Indiana, which is about 150 miles west of Frankfort.

Bard is being represented by a public defender at the Franklin County Department of Public Advocacy, which declined to talk about his case Wednesday.


TUESDAY:
One student was killed and another was critically wounded in a shooting at a residence hall at Kentucky State University on Tuesday, and a suspect who is not a student at the school has been arrested, officials said.

The shooting happened around 3 p.m. and was an “isolated incident,” Scott Tracy, assistant chief of police for Frankfort, said during a news conference Tuesday evening. Tracy said police swiftly responded to the shooting.

Frankfort police said Jacob Lee Bard was booked into jail on murder and first-degree assault charges in connection with the shooting. Police said Bard is from Evansville, Indiana, which is about 150 miles west of Frankfort.

Bard was not listed in online county court records and jail records did not name an attorney for him. The public defender’s office and prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for information on who can comment on his behalf or whether he has an attorney.

One student who was shot at the residence hall, Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall, is in critical condition but is stable, according to the university. The school is not immediately releasing the names of the students.

Classes, final exams and campus activities at the university have been canceled for the rest of the week, according to the school. The fall term was scheduled to end Friday.



(AP Photo Hannah Brown/The State Journal)