Lawyers for man charged in Kentucky State killing say shooting was self-defense
Lawyers for a man charged with killing a Kentucky State University student this month say the fatal shooting was self-defense and campus police failed to protect the family as they tried to withdraw their two sons from the school.
More than 20 people gathered in the lobby of a dorm before “violently and viciously” attacking Jacob Bard, his wife and two children, who were being escorted by two armed campus police officers, the lawyers say.
Bard, 48, of Evansville, Indiana, opened fire, killing one student and injuring another on the Frankfort campus.
Bard was arrested and charged with murder and first-degree assault. De’Jon Fox Jr., 19, was killed.
Now, the lawyers say, Bard’s wife and two sons have gone into hiding after the mother of a victim called for Bard’s son to be killed in retaliation.
The claims were made in a wide-ranging news release sent Monday by Bard’s lawyers, the Evansville-based firm Danks and Danks.
In the five-page release, the lawyers laid out their defense, which includes arguing Bard was trying to protect his family in an attack the university failed to prevent.
The release also twice misidentifies Jacob Bard as “Jacob Butler.”
Bard and his wife were on the Kentucky State University Campus Dec. 9 to move their two sons out of a dorm and remove them from the school because of fear for their safety, according to previous testimony at Bard’s preliminary hearing.
According to the news release, Bard’s sons had been attacked, and their possessions had been burglarized, over months and campus police failed to address the crimes.
When the family arrived at Kentucky State, they got an escort from campus police. But, according to the release, they were attacked by dozens of people, including several men who were not students at the school.
The alleged attackers rushed past the armed security officer and assaulted Bard’s family while they retreated, with one son being slammed into the concrete with multiple people on top of him beating his head, the lawyers claim.
“The officer on scene completely lost control of the situation, and while Jacob and his wife ran toward their son, the officer was retreating further from the erupting violence,” according to the news release.
Bard tried to pull the others off his son, but was unable to do so.
“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 their son,” the release reads.
No one else has been charged in the incident.
Bard’s case is expected to be presented to a grand jury Tuesday. His bond is set at $100,000.
