Even decades later, it remained unclear exactly why the guardsmen opened fire on the crowd at Kent State on May 4, 1970. In subsequent investigations and federal court testimony, many of them testify that they had feared for their lives, and were acting in self defense. In January 1979, a civil settlement is reached in which the Ohio National Guard pays those injured in the shooting $675,000.  At 12:24 p.m., just after reaching the top of the hill, the Guardsmen turn and fire their M1 rifles and postols, some of them aiming directly into the crowd. In 13 seconds of shooting, they fire between 61 and 67 shots. Jeffrey Miller, Alison Krause, William Schroader and Sandra Scheur are killed, and 9 other students are injured, including Dean Kahler, who is shot in the back and left permanently paralyzed from the waste down.  Anger over the shootings triggered a nationwide student strike that shut down hundreds of high schools, colleges and universities.