Ohio city leader dies, was guardsman on Kent State campus during 1970 deadly shootings

Published January 13, 2015

A longtime public servant for the city of Ravenna (rih-VEHN'-uh) in Ohio who was a guardsman at Kent State University during the 1970 deadly shootings has died.

Family members confirmed that Larry Shafer (shay'-fur) died Friday morning, a day before the 43rd anniversary of the shootings. His cause of death wasn't immediately known.

Kent State was the scene of Vietnam War protests May 4, 1970, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on students. Four students were killed; nine others wounded. Shafer and other guardsmen were charged with federal civil rights violations but later acquitted.

Mayor Joe Bica told the Kent-Ravenna Record-Courier that the 67-year-old Shafer died during surgery.

Shafer was Ravenna safety compliance officer and a former fire chief and city councilman.

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