FRANKFORT, Ky. — One student was killed and another critically wounded in a shooting Tuesday afternoon at a residence hall on Kentucky State University’s campus, officials said. A suspect who is not a student was arrested.
The shooting occurred around 3 p.m. at Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall and was described by Frankfort Assistant Chief of Police Scott Tracy as an “isolated incident.” Tracy said officers responded quickly and that there are no active safety concerns on campus. Authorities have not publicly discussed a motive.
Frankfort police identified the person arrested as Jacob Lee Bard of Evansville, Indiana. Bard was booked on charges of murder and first-degree assault. He did not initially appear in online county court records, and jail records did not list an attorney. The public defender’s office and the prosecutor’s office had not immediately provided information about legal representation.
Video from WLKY-TV showed multiple police vehicles and crime-scene tape around a cluster of dormitories. Kentucky State said one student remains in critical but stable condition; the university is not releasing the students’ names. Officials said they are in close contact with the families and are providing support, including counseling and other services.
Gov. Andy Beshear posted a video on X saying the shooting “appears to be an isolated incident” and that “there is no ongoing threat.” He urged people to pray for the families and students and called for a world where such violence does not occur.
Kentucky State canceled classes, final exams and campus activities for the rest of the week; the fall term was scheduled to end Friday. The university said students may return home if they choose and that it will share additional guidance as soon as possible.
University President Koffi C. Akakpo called the event a “senseless tragedy,” saying the university is mourning the loss and noting the difficulty of informing families.
The shooting is the second in about four months in the same area of campus. On Aug. 17, someone fired multiple shots from a vehicle near the same residence hall, striking two people who were not students; police said one suffered minor injuries and another serious injuries, and gunfire damaged the dorm and at least one vehicle.
Kentucky State is a public historically Black university with about 2,200 students. The school, authorized by lawmakers in 1886, sits about 2 miles east of the state Capitol in Frankfort.