Shooting at Kentucky State University Was Defensive Gun Use

When two students at Kentucky State University were shot on campus earlier this month, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was quick to ask for prayers for those injured, as well as “these Kentucky State University students that, again, might be rightfully scared.” 

Beshear added that folks should “pray for a world where these things don’t happen.” 

Everytown for Gun Safety declared on social media that “No one should have to fear for their life at school. Our young people deserve so much better. Our hearts are with the victims, their loved ones, and the entire Kentucky State University community as they grapple with this senseless tragedy.” 

As it turns out, though, the shooter was actually one of the victims of several students, and a grand jury on Tuesday declined charges of murder and assault. 

Jacob Bard’s attorneys have maintained since the shooting that he was acting in self-defense, and ahead of the grand jury proceedings released a statement providing critical details about events leading up to the shots being fired. 

Kentucky StateUniversity and the Kentucky State University Police Department failed to address multiple armed, violent felonies against Jacob’s sons and other students in the days leading up toDecember 9, 2025. Jacob Bard and his wife, along with their sons decided that the only course of action was to withdraw from the university for the son’s safety and requested a police escort to remove their son’s property due to the imminent threat of danger they faced.

Despite having two armed Kentucky State University Police Officers present, a group oftwenty to thirty individuals gathered in the lobby of the son’s dormitory to violently and viciously attack Jacob Bard’s son and family. Many of these individuals were not students of the university and wore ski masks, hoods, and otherwise concealed their faces. Watching the mob gather, Jacob Bard armed himself with his wife’s firearm. Jacob kept his family away from the dormitory until a KSU police officer escorted the family to the dormitory. Upon the officer and Bard family reaching the entrance, the mob immediately rushed out of the dormitory, past an armed KSU police officer, and began violently assaulting Jacob’s family and others present.

Bard’s attorneys say he and his family retreated approximately 40 feet in an attempt to escape the mob, but his son was “slammed into the concrete, and had multiple people on top of him beating his head against the pavement with feet and fists.” Bard’s attorneys claim the KSU officer had lost control of the situation and was actually retreating from the mob instead of trying to protect Bard’s son from the multiple people who were beating him. 

n the chaos, Jacob tried to physically pull the individuals off his son, was struck and when he was unable to do so, and seeing his son in imminent danger of death and serious physical injury, Jacob then drew his firearm and shot two individuals who were actively and viciously beating his son. Jacob immediately dropped the weapon when his son was then able to escape the violence. While surrendering to the police at gunpoint, Jacob was violently kicked in the face by an individual involved in the assault against his family. Jacob’s actions were absolutely justified under the law, and were the only measure that prevented his son’s death or serious injury.

Bard’s attorneys allege that the threats to the family have only escalated since the shooting, with the mother of 19-year-old who was shot and killed openly calling for the murder of Bard’s son as revenge and asking for the help of gangs like the Vice Lords to end his life. 

In a way, Beshear and Everytown were right. This was a senseless tragedy, and we should pray for a world in which this doesn’t happen. By this, I mean a world where a mob of attackers confronts and assaults a family who were just trying to get the heck out of there. A world where a mother doesn’t call for a revenge killing when her son is shot while attacking someone. A world where police don’t run away from an angry mob engaged in wanton violence. 

I’d like to live in that world, but that is not the world we live in. Thankfully, we do live in a country where armed self-defense is protected by the Constitution, and mothers and fathers can protect their kids from harm when a violent mob is slamming their head into concrete pavement and trying to kill them. 

Will Beshear or Everytown offer up any sort of mea culpa now that a grand jury has concluded Bard was acting in self-defense or defense of others? Of course not. Will the Kentucky governor order an investigation into gang activity on the campus of Kentucky State? I highly doubt that will happen too, but I hope that the Republican-controlled legislature will take a keen interest in what’s happening on the campus of the university. It honestly sounds like officials have lost control of the institution, and who knows how many other students may be at risk of similar mob violence in the future.