Kentucky State University campus closed, evacuated due to campus safety threat
Kentucky State University’s main campus was closed and evacuated on Thursday morning because of a “potential threat to campus safety,” the university said in an alert.
The alert was sent shortly after 11 a.m. instructing students, faculty and staff to leave the main campus “calmly and immediately.” A second alert sent shortly before noon said the Benson Research and Demonstration Farm was also closed and being evacuated.
“Kentucky State University’s main campus is closed immediately due to a potential threat to campus safety,” the campus alert said. “Leave campus calmly and immediately unless directed otherwise by law enforcement or University officials. Do not come to main campus until further notice.”
Employees were told to work remotely if possible, the university said on social media.
A university spokesperson provided a similar message that was sent to the campus on Thursday morning, which said the main campus was closed based on a recommendation from local law enforcement. Additional details about the threat were not provided, so it’s unclear if the threat was related to a shooting or potential shooting.
The last day of the spring semester was May 2, and residential halls closed on May 9. The summer semester began on May 11, according to online academic calendars.
KSU President Koffi Akakpo told lawmakers earlier this year the school was in the process of reviewing its security procedures and hiring additional police officers following a fatal shooting that occurred on campus in December.
On Dec. 9, De’Jon Fox Jr., a 19-year-old KSU student, was killed in a shooting that took place outside Whitney M. Young Hall, a dorm on the south side of campus. A second student was injured in the shooting. Jacob Bard, 48, was arrested and initially charged with murder and first-degree assault after the shooting.
Bard told investigators he and his wife were on campus to remove their two sons from the school because of safety concerns, and charges against him were later dropped. More than 20 people gathered in the lobby of the dorm before “violently and viciously” attacking Jacob Bard, his wife and two children, who were being escorted by two armed campus police officers, their lawyers said.
Akakpo told lawmakers the shooting was “an isolated incident.”
KSU’s campus crime records showed five reports of assault, five reports of theft and two reports of harassment in Young Hall from August to December 2025. Specifics of each report are not listed, and it’s not clear if any are directly connected to the Dec. 9 shooting. Bard’s lawyer said the family went to campus police that day to report that their son had been assaulted on campus.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 11:21 AM.