On Monday evening, hundreds of students gathered at Showalter Fountain to remember Kemontie Johnson’s life. Kemontie Johnson, 21, was pronounced dead early Sunday morning, after he was shot and killed at a Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity Halloween party. The party was called “A Nightmare in B-Town,” and was held at Eagle Pointe Golf Resort. Two other men were shot, and one remains in critical condition.
According to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Steve Hale, Johnson suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the neck and body.
Around 300 to 400 people were in attendance at the party, many of whom were IU students. According to police reports, many of the attendees were trampled as they ran away from the gunshots.
Although Johnson was not a student at Indiana University himself, he was a member of the Bloomington community, worked at Kilroy’s Bar on Kirkwood Avenue and befriended many IU students.
At the vigil, friends and strangers gathered, holding candles to hear Johnson’s friends and family speak and offer their support. One attendee led the crowd in singing “Amazing Grace,” and two star-shaped balloons were released at the end of the vigil.
Johnson was remembered by his friends and family as positive, full of life, and sociable.
“I felt not only obligated as someone who knew him but as a member of this community to, kind of, be part of it, because, honestly, most people there didn’t know him personally, but they were all kind of affected by what happened, either personally or through some other connection. And a lot of people knew him through association because he was a very social guy,” IU junior Turner White said. White worked with Johnson at Kilroy’s.
Those who didn’t know Johnson expressed the importance of coming together as a community in a time.
“I think that when something hits so close to home, more support needs to be shown from the campus and administrators and faculty,” said IU sophomore Eliza Craig.
Around 300 people attended the vigil. Craig said she was surprised by the relative lack of support from the Bloomington community.
“When you consider the fact that our campus is 50,000 students strong, it’s sort of pathetic, the amount of people that showed up.”
IU’s National Pan-Hellenic Council expressed their condolences and emphasized the importance of unity during this time, in a statement released on Sunday night.
IU Provost Lauren Robel was in attendance at the vigil, and sent out a campus-wide email Monday morning, informing students of the shooting. She urged students affected by the tragedy to contact IU Counseling and Psychological Services at 812-855-5711 for free counseling. In addition, counselors are being made available on a walk-in basis at the Neal Marshall Black Culture Center from Monday through Wednesday.
“My thoughts are with all of our students who witnessed or were present at this terrible event and with the families of the victims,” Robel wrote.
The shooter has not yet been identified, and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department said they have received conflicting descriptions. The investigation is still ongoing.
