UK students shaken after shooting at off-campus party

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - University of Kentucky students are shaken up after an overnight shooting at an off-campus party.

While the shooting didn’t happen on campus, many people who live in the neighborhood where the shooting happened are UK students.

We caught up with a number of students on their way to class Thursday morning. Many of them tell us they never expected something like this to happen in their neighborhood. They say that they have always felt safe there but, for many, the shooting has changed that.

Isabelle Tanksley is a sophomore at UK. She lives just one street over from where the shooting took place on University Ave. She tells us she was out Wednesday night and a few of her friends were actually at the house where the shooting took place.

“Next thing I know, the girls are in the group chat, texting like, ‘Get to your house. Get to your house,” Tanksley said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ So, I told everyone, ‘If you’re near State Street, come to my house right now.’ One of my girls, she left in her car and she was like, ‘Get your butt in your house right now,’ and, so, the group chat they call me and I’m like, ‘If you are near my house, my house is safe. I want your body in my house.’”

Thursdays are usually a going-out night for many college students. However, the students we spoke with say that the shooting will change the way they go out moving forward. They tell us they’ll be doing things like calling a car instead of walking home at night and taking other steps to keep themselves safe.

UK President Eli Capilouto released this statement Thursday afternoon about the shooting:

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