Campus Alert Archive
KSU

Finals Week at Whitney Young Hall: KSU's Fatal Shooting and the Grand Jury's Self-Defense Verdict

KYactive shooteremergency notificationmedium confidence

On December 9, 2025, a confrontation at Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall on Kentucky State University's Frankfort campus escalated into gunfire that killed 19-year-old student De'Jon Fox and critically wounded a second student. Frankfort Police responded to the active-aggressor call at approximately 3:10 p.m. EST; the campus was locked down for several hours. The suspect, 48-year-old Jacob Lee Bard of Evansville, Indiana — the father of an enrolled KSU student — was in custody on arrival. On December 23, a grand jury accepted Bard's self-defense claim and returned no indictment.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
1
Injured
1
Institution
Kentucky State University
Hbcu · KY
~2,300 studentsBRED Alerts
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction174 chars
KSU Alert: Active aggressor reported on campus near Whitney Young Hall. Shelter in place immediately. Lock doors, stay away from windows. Avoid the area until further notice.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Issued shortly after Frankfort Police responded to the active-aggressor call at approximately 3:10 p.m. EST on December 9, 2025
Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall is a residence hall located at 106 South University Drive on KSU's Frankfort campus, named for the civil-rights leader and KSU alumnus
The incident interrupted final-exam week at the historically Black university — students were studying or sitting exams when the lockdown began
KSU's primary emergency notification system is branded 'BRED Alerts' (BRED is the university's spirit acronym)
UPDATEmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction157 chars
KSU Alert UPDATE: A suspect is in custody. Law enforcement continues to sweep Whitney Young Hall. Continue to shelter in place until the all-clear is issued.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

By the time Frankfort Police arrived at approximately 3:35 p.m. EST, KSU campus police had already taken Bard into custody
The shelter order remained in place while officers swept the residence hall for additional threats
Governor Andy Beshear described the shooting in a video statement as appearing to be 'an isolated incident'
ALL CLEARmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction237 chars
KSU Alert ALL CLEAR: The scene at Whitney Young Hall has been secured and the suspect is in custody. The campus lockdown has been lifted. Resume normal activities. Counseling resources are available through the Office of Student Affairs.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The lockdown was lifted later the same day after authorities confirmed the situation was contained
KSU's official statement that evening expressed condolences to Fox's family — the university president called the shooting 'devastating' in a follow-up statement
Counseling services were extended through finals week and the start of winter break
Context

Background

On the afternoon of December 9, 2025 — during final-exam week — a confrontation between Jacob Lee Bard and a crowd of KSU students escalated near Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall, the residence hall at 106 South University Drive on Kentucky State University's Frankfort campus. According to law enforcement, Bard, 48, of Evansville, Indiana, had come to campus with his 18-year-old son and a campus police officer to move belongings from the son's dorm room when the trio was approached by a group of students. Bard, his son, and the officer attempted to leave but were surrounded and attacked. Bard drew a handgun and opened fire, killing 19-year-old De'Jon Fox of Indianapolis and critically wounding a second student. Frankfort Police responded to reports of an active aggressor at approximately 3:10 p.m. EST, and by the time officers arrived, KSU campus police had already taken Bard into custody. The campus was placed under shelter-in-place and remained locked down for several hours while officers swept Whitney Young Hall. Fox was pronounced dead at Frankfort Regional Medical Center at 4:33 p.m. EST. Bard was initially charged with murder and first-degree assault. On December 23, 2025, a Franklin County grand jury accepted his self-defense claim and returned no indictment, a rare outcome in a fatal campus shooting. The case underscored ongoing concerns about HBCU campus safety two years after the wave of HBCU bomb threats that disrupted KSU and dozens of peers in 2022.
Analysis

Key Findings

The suspect was a parent of an enrolled KSU student, not a student himself — an unusual perpetrator profile for a fatal campus shooting
The Franklin County grand jury declined to indict on December 23, 2025, accepting Bard's self-defense claim — the rare campus shooting where the shooter avoided trial
The shooting occurred during final-exam week and at Whitney Young Hall, KSU's main residence hall named for civil-rights leader and KSU alumnus Whitney M. Young Jr.
KSU campus police had already taken the suspect into custody before Frankfort Police arrived, an unusually fast on-scene resolution
Outcome
Fox was pronounced dead at Frankfort Regional Medical Center at 4:33 p.m. EST. The second student was hospitalized in critical condition and later stabilized. Bard was initially charged with murder and first-degree assault but the Franklin County grand jury declined to indict on December 23, 2025, accepting his self-defense argument.
Provenance

Sources

  1. national media
    1 dead and 1 injured in a shooting at Kentucky State University in Frankfort (CNN)
    cnn.com
  2. national media
    Suspect in custody after Kentucky State University shooting leaves 1 dead (NPR)
    npr.org
  3. national media
    Parent of Kentucky State University student arrested in deadly campus shooting (ABC News)
    abcnews.go.com
  4. national media
    Student killed, suspect in custody in Kentucky State University shooting (Al Jazeera)
    aljazeera.com
  5. national media
    Kentucky State University shooting suspect charged with murder is parent of a student (Fox News)
    foxnews.com
  6. encyclopedia
    2025 Kentucky State University shooting (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  7. Official
    Statement from Kentucky State University
    kysu.edu
Tags
active-shooterhbcukentuckyfatalityfinals-weekresidence-hallself-defensebred-alerts
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion