One scholar is dead and another stays in critical condition following a firing at Kentucky State University in Frankfort on Tuesday just days before heading off on winter break, authorities stated.
The 48-year-old suspect, who is from Indiana and is not a scholar, has been booked into Franklin County Regional Jail on accusations of murder and assault, first degree, police and university officials reported.
CNN is endeavoring to ascertain whether the suspect possesses legal counsel.
The scholar in critical condition remains stable, university spokesperson Michael DeCourcy informed CNN.
The shooting, which occurred during finals week, was not an aimed assault, he said.
All classes, final examinations, and campus activities were halted for the remainder of the week, the university announced Tuesday evening. “Students can go back home if they wish. Further direction will be shared as soon as possible,” the announcement mentioned.
There is no ongoing danger to the populace after campus peace officers responded to the firing right away and apprehended the suspect moments after the initial gunshots, said assistant chief of police Scott Tracy at a conference. By the moment Frankfort police arrived within four minutes of the first 911 alert, the area had been secured and a suspect was detained as the school stayed on lockdown, Tracy stated.
The Frankfort Police Department is now examining what Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear termed an isolated incident at the historically Black university.
Frankfort is about 25 miles northwest from Lexington.
Kentucky State University has now become the location of the 73rd firing on school grounds this year, most of which transpired on college grounds, according to CNN’s evaluation of incidents reported by the Gun Violence Archive, Education Week and Everytown for Gun Safety.
The university, which was chartered in 1886, has over 2,200 scholars and 450 faculty and staff members, according to its website.
None of the campus peace officers discharged their firearms “to our knowledge,” the school spokesperson remarked, adding: “This is beyond awful.”
Police said the firing unfolded around 3:10 p.m. outside Whitney M. Young Jr. residence hall, a dormitory on campus, according to the university, which added it would not name the casualties at this time out of regard for them and their kin.
“We are in close contact with the families and are furnishing every available aid to them,” the statement said.
The university encouraged anyone needing counseling and support to seek aid available to scholars, faculty, and staff affected by the calamity.
University president Koffi C. Akakpo called the firing a “pointless tragedy” that has left the community grieving the loss of one of its scholars.
“As a parent, I cannot picture receiving the call I placed today to the parents. Our scholars require prayers. Kentucky State University needs prayers,” Akakpo stated at the conference.
Tracy lauded the swift and collective response of the assisting groups, saying, “their rapid efforts guaranteed that the situation was controlled almost instantly, preventing further harm.”
Campus and local police were aided by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, state police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, among other agencies, Tracy asserted.
Tuesday’s event is the most recent HBCU targeted in recent months, after two others experienced shootings in October during homecoming weekends.
Five persons were hurt in a firing near the campus of Howard University in Washington, DC, police said, but none of the injured were scholars.
Merely one day later, at least one person was killed and six others were hurt during homecoming weekend at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University, police stated.
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