The Other Kent State Shootings: February 10, 1992

While the May 4, 1970 shootings on the Kent State University campus in Kent, Ohio, are a part of history in terms of the Vietnam protests of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as examples of campus shootings, the media frequently ignores another set of shootings at the Kent State University campus: from December 12, 1991 through February 10, 1992, the Kent State campus was enveloped in fear. One janitor was found dead from a gunshot, another student was shot in the chest, and on February 10, 1992, the shooter ran loose on campus firing gunshots across campus, setting off terror and panic for hours.

I was a Resident Assistant in Johnson Hall that night, and it was my duty night, on February 10. At the end of the previous semester a janitor, John T. Frazier, was found shot dead by a .38 caliber bullet; he was found slumped over a chair in the Kiva, an auditorium on campus. The news rippled across campus during final exam week, and Kent State had just acquired a new president, Carol Cartwright, nine months before. Most students left campus wondering about the murder, but glad to be going home.

We returned to campus in January. The semester began, and Johnson Hall, a 124-resident hall for juniors, seniors, and a few graduate students, was nestled on the edge of campus, near Bowman Hall, a classroom building.

A member of the security staff came to my room and told me to get all residents into the hallways, to close their doors, and to do what was called a tornado drill--to act as if a tornado were coming. "Why?" I asked, and then heard a gunshot. Then screams. I ran throughout the building, pounding on doors, and between me and the security staff member, soon every door had been knocked on. We ushered students into the first floor hallway interior, away from windows. The residence hall was in lockdown. No one was supposed to be allowed in, but students who were in the Common, near the Kent State bell, came running to Johnson Hall's doors and begged to be let in. Another gunshot and soon--tornado sirens. We let the students in.