Grand Jury Clears KSU Campus Self-Defense Shooter – RedState

Earlier this month, we reported on a shooting on the campus of Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky. At that point, two people were shot and a suspect was taken into custody, as my colleague Katie Jerkovich wrote at the time.

It was December 9.

BREAKING: 2 injured in shooting by ‘active assailant’ at Kentucky State University; suspect in custody – Police pic.twitter.com/aYOyP9psOL

– Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 9, 2025

The shooter, Jacob Lee Bard, said it was a defensive shot. He said his family members who attended the university had been targets of bullying and abuse, and that a crowd of 20 to 30 people had gathered when he tried to remove his son from a dormitory where he was staying. One of the students he shot was killed, the other injured.

Learn more: Kentucky State University shooting, suspect in custody

On Tuesday, a grand jury declined to return an indictment against Jacob Lee Bard for the shooting. He is now a free man.

A Franklin County grand jury declined Tuesday to indict an Indiana father accused of shooting two people at Kentucky State University earlier this month, killing one person outside a dormitory.

Jacob Bard will not face murder charges after the grand jury determined there was not enough evidence to pursue the case.

“Our position has always been that he was innocent, that he acted in self-defense for himself, his son and his wife,” said Jonathan Danks, Jacob Bard’s lawyer.

According to Danks, a mob of 30 people, some armed with weapons, threatened Bard’s family as he tried to get his son out of his dorm room. The lawyer maintains that Bard acted in self-defense when the group attacked.

“I know he feels a tremendous amount of relief. And so we’re very happy now that he can be with his family for the holidays without it weighing on his head,” Danks said.

The grand jury appears to have agreed with the defendant’s assertion that this was a defensive shooting, or at least, that there was not enough evidence to indict him. However, if new evidence surfaces, it is always possible that another grand jury could vote in favor of the indictment.

Following this announcement, Kentucky State University released a statement which read in part:

The University is strengthening security measures and continuing internal reviews, while taking steps to ensure that our campus environment remains one where everyone can continue their studies safely. In accordance with University policies, when conduct within the University’s jurisdiction violates our standards, appropriate action will be taken according to established processes.

This is a bit like closing the barn door when the horse is already on the horizon.

Learn more: Update: Kentucky state trooper shot, several injured in church shooting

Note also that Mr. Bard’s family would be forced to hide in an undisclosed location for fear of reprisals.

The family continues to face safety concerns following the incident.

“The death threats that have been made (against the Bard family), to our knowledge, have not been addressed. That is why the entire family will remain in an undisclosed location for the time being,” Danks said.

Even if the case of this shooting is, for the moment, closed, the issue here is larger. If the appearance of a young man incites a crowd of 20 to 30 people to gather and a member of that crowd allegedly knocked the young man over and started banging his head against the sidewalk, which could very easily result in fatal injuries, then Kentucky State University is in serious trouble. It is not about “ensuring that the campus environment remains one where all can continue their studies in complete safety.” This ship has sailed; If this incident demonstrated anything, it is that the KSU campus is not a campus where one can safely pursue an education or anything else.

For now, Jacob Lee Bard is going home. But his son, according to this report, still has to hide from the angry mob that attacked him. The University’s security measures have already failed. This is the real story.

Editor’s note: The radical left will stop at nothing to implement their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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