A Parent’s Anger, a Gun, and a Dead College Student at Kentucky State University

Yes, I’m very much aware of the shooting at Brown University and the circus surrounding it. Sadly, I have this and another shooting to get through. But I digress…

Anyway, another college campus. Another shooting. Another young student dead. And once again, the immediate rush by officials to reassure the public that this was “isolated,” “not random,” and “not a mass shooting” threatens to soften what actually happened at Kentucky State University.

On the afternoon of December 9, 2025, gunfire erupted on the Kentucky State campus in Frankfort just days before winter break. Shortly after 3:10 p.m., police received reports of an active aggressor near Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall, a residence hall on the south side of campus. Officers arrived within minutes. By the time Frankfort police reached the scene, university police already had the suspected shooter in custody.

Two Kentucky State students had been shot. 19-year-old De’Jon Darrell Fox Jr., a sophomore business administration major from Indianapolis, was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead later that afternoon. Another student was critically injured and airlifted to the University of Kentucky Hospital, where they remain in intensive care.

The suspect was identified as 48-year-old Jacob Lee Bard of Evansville, Indiana. Bard is not a student at Kentucky State University. Police have confirmed he is the parent of two KSU baseball players. According to arrest records, Bard was involved in a physical altercation on campus and produced a handgun during the incident, shooting two students. Investigators have reviewed surveillance footage and video recorded by witnesses but have declined to publicly explain what led up to the confrontation.

Law enforcement has also refused to confirm or deny reports that a fight involving Bard’s sons may have preceded the shooting, saying it is too early in the investigation to discuss motive or circumstances. Still, the known facts raise uncomfortable questions. A non-student adult came onto a college campus, became involved in a confrontation, and escalated that situation with a firearm. If a fight did precede the shooting, this does not resemble random chaos. It looks disturbingly like someone who arrived on campus prepared for a confrontation and was willing to take it to a lethal level.

Despite that, officials quickly emphasized that the shooting was “isolated” and “not targeted.” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the incident was not random and urged the public to pray for the victims and their families. Once again, the familiar refrain followed tragedy: thoughts and prayers, assurances that there is no ongoing threat, and calls for calm.

But language matters. Calling this a targeted or isolated incident does not make it less serious. A college student with a lifetime of potential ahead of him is dead. Another remains hospitalized, his future uncertain. The presence of a personal dispute does not reduce the gravity of gun violence on a college campus, nor does it make students safer.

University President Koffi Akakpo described De’Jon Fox as a student known for his creativity, kindness, and vibrant spirit, someone who made others feel seen. Friends remembered him for his love of basketball, fashion, and content creation. His death has left a profound hole in the Kentucky State community, one marked by grief, vigils, and unanswered questions.

This shooting also did not occur in a vacuum. It was the second gun-related incident near the same residence hall in just four months, a fact that complicates repeated claims that the campus is safe and that this violence is purely anomalous. Nationally, Kentucky State has now become the site of the supposed 73rd shooting on school grounds in 2025, most of them on college campuses.

Once again, officials insist there is no ongoing threat. Perhaps there isn’t in the narrowest sense. But the broader reality remains unchanged. Anger, access to firearms, and personal grievances continue to intersect on school campuses with deadly consequences.

This should not be minimized, this should not be explained away, and it should not be reduced to a talking point about whether a shooting fits a particular category.

A student is dead, and another is fighting for their life. Thoughts and prayers do nothing for either of them.

(Sources)