Father Shoots 2 Students on College Campus While Moving Son Out Amid Safety Concerns

Jacob Bard, 48, and his wife went to the university's office of student affairs, as well as campus police, on December 9 to file a report that their son had allegedly been assaulted on the campus, per testimony heard Tuesday morning from Bard's lawyer Mark Hall, as covered by the Lexington Herald Leader.

Afterward, they were reportedly escorted back to the student's dorm where they were planning to help their son pack up and move out when they "were essentially attacked," per Hall. Surveillance footage appeared to corroborate this claim, showing several people running toward the family, including one brandishing a baseball bat.

It was just after 3 p.m. at Whitney M. Young Hall that Bard allegedly opened fire, striking two individuals. One of those shot was De'Jon Fox Jr., a 19-year-old student from Indianapolis who later succumbed to his wounds and died after being transported to a local hospital.

A second man was shot and injured, with the Frankfort Police Department reporting in court that he is in stable condition. This second victim, whose identity has not been revealed, was also a Kentucky State University student, according to police.

Bard was immediately arrested and charged with felony murder and first-degree assault after the shooting, per the Herald Leader, with his bail initially set at $1 million before the judge backed down slightly during Tuesday's hearing and said he could post 10 percent of it, or $100,000.

In its initial press release the day after the fatal shooting, Frankfort PD described it as an "isolated incident involving these specific individuals," expressing confidence that "there are no active safety concerns on campus or in the community" related to the shooting.

While there has been no clear indication or motive revealed about the incident, Us Weekly reports that Frankfort PD detective Laura Marco said that was "bad blood" between Bardon's son and the group of students involved in the alleged "attack."

Testifying in court on Tuesday, Marco said that the family had requested the police escort that day because of concerns they had for their safety after their son told them about this alleged "bad blood" he had with a group of students, according to WKYT.

"Based on my interviews with the family, from them, they told me that the reason they were there to get their son is because he had called them and told them he’d been assaulted," Marco explained, per LEX18.

She told the court that one alleged assault "has been stated to me multiple times, one specific instance," adding that "there were other attempted incidents where he was not assaulted."

She described security footage from the day in question which allegedly showed Bard's son in a physical altercation with two students outside the elevator in Young Hall, emphasizing that neither of those students were among those shot, but suggested they were part of this larger group of students with whom he had "bad blood."

Bard's son was also the alleged aggressor in this elevator incident, per Marco's testimony. "When the doors opened, they came tumbling out," she said, per Fox56. "And his son and the fella with his son, they were beating the victim on the ground, out in the hallway."

Marco also talked about the incident that did end in bloodshed. "She asked to be let into the building," Marco said of Bard's wife, per LEX18, "so the officer walked up there, opened the door, when he opened the door that's when both sides clashed. It came outside onto the sidewalk. There were multiple people attacking other multiple people, and then in all of that a gun went off twice."

According to WHAS, Bard's son was reportedly on the ground at the time his father's gun went off.

Hall claimed that his client acted in self-defense when he and his family were attacked: "Mr. Bard went to Kentucky State University with a purpose and that purpose was to remove his children from an unsafe environment."

When questioning Detective Marco, Hall asked her about Bard's son claiming he was the victim of assault, too. "Have any witnesses told you about essentially, like, a mob of young men that were assaulting Mr. Bard’s son?" he asked, to which she replied, "Yes." Hall also promised "more information will come out" as the case progresses.

Prosecutors countered that Bard admitted to being the shooter and asserted that regardless of the situation, he allegedly chose deadly force when deadly force was not necessary, per WKYT's reporting.

Should Bard be able to post bond, the judge said that he must have zero contact with anyone involved. After determining probable cause in Tuesday's hearing, Bard's case next moves to a Franklin Circuit Court grand jury, followed by an arraignment if formal indictments are handed down.