KENT, Ohio — The Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed college students during a war protest at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. Four students were killed, and nine others were injured. Not all of those hurt or killed were involved in the demonstration, which opposed the U.S. bombing of neutral Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

The confrontation, sometimes referred to as the May 4 massacre, was a defining moment for a nation sharply divided over the protracted war, in which more than 58,000 Americans died. It sparked a strike of 4 million students across the U.S., temporarily closing some 900 colleges and universities. The events also played a pivotal role, historians argue, in turning public opinion against the conflicts in Southeast Asia.

In the hours immediately after the shootings, reporters at the chaotic scene struggled to determine who had fired the shots and why. Among the theories was that Guard members shot after spotting a sniper, a theory later proved untrue.

Kent State’s campus, about 30 miles southeast of Cleveland, will be still on the 50th anniversary Monday. An elaborate multi-day commemoration was canceled because of social distancing restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some events, activities and resources are being made available online.

Fifty years ago

The dead were:

Allison Krause, 19, of Pittsburgh; Sandy Lee Scheuer, 20, of Youngstown, Ohio; Jeffrey G. Miller, 20, of Plainview, N.Y., and William K. Schroeder, 19, of Lorain, Ohio.

Portage County Coroner Dr. Robert Sybert said all four had been shot from the side, “left to right.” All died of a single bullet wound, he said.

Krause was hit in the left shoulder, Scheurer in the neck, Schroeder in the left underside of the chest and Miller in the head.

Eight other persons, including two guardsmen were hospitalized. One of the two guardsmen was treated for shock and the other had collapsed from exhaustion.

School officials ordered the faculty, staff and 19,000 students to leave. Classes were suspended indefinitely by University President Robert White. Later, Portage County Prosecutor Ronald Kane, armed with a court injunction, officially closed the university until further notice.

President Richard Nixon said he would order a Justice Department investigation if the state so requested and Gov. James Rhodes then asked for the FBI to carry out an inquiry.

The governor had ordered the Ohio National Guard to the campus following a demonstration by some 1,000 students during which the Army ROTC building was destroyed by fire.

Jerry Stoklas, 20, a campus newspaper photographer, said he witnessed the shootings from a rooftop.

He said about 400 students were harassing the guardsmen and “they turned and opened fire. I saw five people go down.”

Other witnesses said the demonstrators were pelting the guardsmen with rocks and chunks of concrete.

Stoklas said the troops had backed away, but the demonstrators followed. He said the guardsmen had “turned around several times, apparently trying to scare them.”

Sgt. Michael Delaney of the guard public relations staff said 20 to 30 rounds of MI rifle ammunition were fired.

“At the approximate time of the firing on the campus,” he added. “the Ohio Highway Patrol — via a helicopter — spotted a sniper on a nearby building.”

Some students contended the “sniper” actually was one of several student photographers atop Taylor Hall.

Guard spokesmen said 900 to 1,000 persons had been involved in the demonstration at the university’s Commons and that guardsmen had exhausted their tear gas supply in dispersing the crowd.

The state’s National Guard commander, Adj. Gen. Sylvester Del Corso, said the troops began firing from semiautomatic rifles after a rooftop sniper had shot at them.

Gene Williams, a member of the student newspaper staff, said he saw the troops turn “in unison, as if responding to a command,” and fire into the crowd.

Brig. Gen. Robert Canterbury, who was in direct command of the guard contingent on the campus, said no order was given to shoot.

“A military man always has the option to fire if he feels his life is in danger,” he said. “The crowd was moving in on the men on three sides.

“The shooting lasted about two or three seconds. Officers at the scene immediately called for a cease-fire.”

Canterbury said an investigation into the shooting would attempt to determine which guardsmen fired first, what others fired and actually hit students, and how many rounds of ammunition they expended.

The shooting climaxed student demonstration and disturbances that began in the wake of Nixon’s address to the nation about sending U.S. troops into Cambodia.