May 5, 1970: No Roof Sniper At Kent, Says Ohio State Patrol
The front page on this day features a sobering image of a dead Kent State University student, blood streaming from his head onto the pavement as a woman kneels over him.
He and three other anti-war protesters were killed on campus the day before by National Guardsmen. Eleven other students were wounded. The events of that day would later be known as the Kent State massacre, or the May 4 massacre.
One of several front-page stories about the shootings quotes President Richard Nixon’s response to the day’s events.
“This should remind us all once again that when dissent turns violence, it invites tragedy,” Nixon said.
Another story shows Ohio Highway Patrols disputing reports from the Ohio National Guard that a sniper was spotted on a nearby roof shortly before the shootings.
Local items from this day’s front page include a story Charles Gordone, a former Elkhart resident who won a Pulitzer prize for drama for his off-Broadway play “No Place to Be Somebody.”
Another story reports on voter turnout for Elkhart County’s primary elections. The day started off slow and recently redrawn precinct boundaries are reported to have caused confusion for many voters.