A shooter at Kentucky State University gunned down one student and left another in critical condition before the suspect was quickly nabbed by cops responding to calls of an “active aggressor” Tuesday afternoon.

The Frankfort Police Department said it was on campus by 3:35 p.m., just four minutes after receiving reports of the shooting. By the time they arrived, KSU police had already arrested the suspect, the department’s assistant chief of police Scott Tracy said at a press conference Tuesday evening.

In an update shared at 4:35 p.m., the department confirmed that one of the injured victims died while the other was hospitalized “in stable but critical condition,” according to a Facebook post.

The two victims were both KSU students, Tracy said.

The alleged shooter — later identified by police as 48-year-old Jacob Lee Bard — wasn’t affiliated with the university, he added. Bard, of Evansville, Indiana, was booked in the Franklin County Regional Jail on charges for murder and assault, WDRB reported.

The shooting is believed to be an isolated attack rather than the act of a school shooter hoping to cause mass casualties, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.

“This was not a mass shooting or a random incident based on what I’ve been told,” Beshear said in a video shared on X.

Police have taken a suspect into custody, he confirmed.

“While this is scary, there is no ongoing threat, and I believe our families are safe,” Beshear said.

“Pray for a world where these things don’t happen, and I’ll keep trying to build the Kentucky that we don’t see arguments ended in violence,” he added.

KSU President Dr. Koffi C. Akakpo echoed Beshear’s hopes at the press conference.

“Today indeed was a senseless tragedy. We’re mourning the loss of one of our students. As a parent, I cannot imagine receiving the call I placed today to the parents. Our students need prayers. Kentucky State University needs prayers. I cannot thank our law enforcement enough, our community enough, and our leader right here with me enough,” Akakpo said.

An official at the university — in Kentucky’s capital city — told WKYT that the shooting took place in the southern part of the campus, where multiple people were injured.

The southernmost part of campus has a small cluster of buildings affiliated with the university’s aquaculture and nutrition courses, along with the primary sports facilities.

The north campus is packed with residence halls, student centers, the school’s police station and its sole library.

Young Hall, formally known as the Whitney Moore Young Jr. Hall, is adjacent to the main road. It also sits beside another much larger dormitory, but is largely isolated from the main campus, according to a map of the university.

Both parts of the campus are separated by a bustling main road that leads into Frankfort and a thick forest, according to the map. 

KSU has roughly 2,000 students. Final exams started on Monday, according to the university’s website.

On Aug. 17, 2025, just one day before the semester started at KSU, two “non-students” were injured in a shooting near Young Hall, according to a past statement from the police department.