Relatives of 4 killed at Kent State site remembered; hundreds gather 40 years after shootings

Kent State marks 40th years since Guard shootings

KENT, Ohio — The relatives of four students killed by National Guard troops at Kent State University remembered their loved ones along with hundreds of people who gathered at the site 40 years later.

Ninety-year-old Florence Schroeder spoke about her son, William, who was shot in the back on May 4, 1970, when National guard troops opened fire on a student protest of the Vietnam War at the northeast Ohio school.

At 12:24 p.m. Tuesday — 40 years to the moment when Guard members fired — a bell was rung 13 times in memory of all the students who were shot. Nine people were also wounded in the shooting.

The section of campus where it happened was formally added to the National Register of Historic Places this week. The university also dedicated a new audio walking tour of the site.