Charlie Kirk was fielding questions about gun violence at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday when he was shot.
OREM, UT — Authorities are still searching early Thursday for the shooter believed to have fired a single gunshot that killed Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close political ally of President Donald Trump, at an event at Utah Valley University.
Kirk, 31, was speaking outside in the university’s courtyard on Wednesday afternoon. The incident, captured in graphic detail in video clips that rapidly spread around the internet, sparked fear and panic among the some 3,000 attendees, prompting the school to evacuate the campus and close down as authorities investigated.
Authorities are searching for the suspected shooter after two people had been detained in the hours after the shooting, including one who was interrogated by law enforcement. Both were subsequently released.
“There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals,” the Utah Department of Public Safety and the FBI said in a statement. “There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter.”
The shooting, which officials have described as a “targeted attack” and “political assassination,” drew swift condemnation from Republicans and Democrats. Trump, who ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Sunday, has vowed that his administration will “find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity.”
Vance cancels 9/11 New York trip to visit Utah to pay respects to Charlie Kirk’s family
Vice President JD Vance will travel to Salt Lake City on Sept. 11 to pay respects to Kirk’s family, canceling his previous plans to visit New York City to honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to a source familiar with Vance’s plans.
Vance will be joined by second lady Usha Vance.
JD Vance was a close friend of the charismatic conservative activist, who was fatally shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. A manhunt for the suspect is still active.
-Joey Garrison and Francesca Chambers
Video of Kirk’s death spread quickly online. Think before you watch it.
Once you see the videos, you can’t unsee them.
Graphic videos of Kirk’s killing spread quickly online, appearing in people’s social media feeds, often with little-to-no warning.
Getting confronted with gruesome, horrific imagery has, unfortunately, become an assumed risk when logging onto social media. Mental health and media experts, however, say the proliferation of violent videos online can have a deeply negative impact on our psyches − and that you don’t have to view material like this in order to stay informed or have empathy for the victims.
– Charles Trepany
What time was Charlie Kirk shot?
The shot rang out at about 12:20 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Sept. 10, authorities said. Kirk’s event was scheduled to begin some 20 minutes earlier.
Kirk was taken to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem just over 2 miles away from campus and was pronounced dead hours later, the Utah Department of Public Safety said in an update.
Who killed Charlie Kirk? What we know
Authorities have not named anyone believed to be involved in the shooting as of Thursday morning.
The shooter was “dressed in all dark clothing,” Utah Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety Beau Mason said on Wednesday, noting that investigators were looking at security footage on campus for hints about the suspect.
The person is believed to have fired the shot from the roof of a building down to the student courtyard where the event was taking place, the department said in an update.
Six campus police officers and Kirk’s traveling security team were working at the event, the department said.
Eyewitness describes fatal shooting: ‘It was just terrible’
At a small makeshift memorial outside Timpanogos Regional Hospital, about a dozen mourners lit candles, held flags, and talked to each other in muffled voices. One of those paying his respects was Ammon Paxton, 19, who said he was about four people away from Kirk when the conservative activist was shot.
Paxton said he heard the shot go off, then saw the bullet hit Kirk. He said he watched him fall over and collapse.
“I can’t even describe how gruesome it was. It was just terrible,” he admitted. “He was one of my biggest heroes and my greatest inspirations. I looked up to him a lot.”
Paxton condemned the shooting, which he called an “assassination,” and said he and other young conservatives will fight back against what he called violence from the Left, but within the traditional definition of “conservatism.”
“I was pushed further right due to this event today, and I will not back down,” he said.
But asked if he had a message for angry young conservatives who might be baited into retaliation for the shooting, Paxton said they should “stay focused on Jesus.”
“This is not what Charlie Kirk would have wanted,” Paxton urged. “He was a peacemaker.”
Trump vows vengeance against ‘radical Left’ for Charlie Kirk slaying
Calling Kirk “a martyr for truth and freedom,” Trump slammed the “radical Left” and said its heated rhetoric was “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”
In a four-minute live address posted to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Trump – sitting in the Oval Office – said he was “filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination” of Kirk on a college campus in Utah.The young firebrand, 31, was a staunch political ally of Trump and helped fuel his political comeback and return to the White House in January. He had featured red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps on stage with him when he was shot once in the neck while talking to students as part of his “The American Comeback Tour.” Read more here.
Utah campus somber in wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing: ‘Doesn’t feel real’
Panic and fear that broke out after Kirk was fatally gunned down during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University became shock and grief as students on campus began to process the attack.
Hours after Wednesday’s shooting and a campus lockdown, a huge bouquet had been placed near a prominent university sign as police carrying machine guns patrolled the university, and the community hunkered down.
Lance Suaste, a university junior, said that she was near where Kirk was speaking when the shooting happened and that she saw the panicked crowd running.
“It doesn’t feel real so it’s very shocking,” university junior Lance Suaste told USA TODAY. “Nothing like this happens in Utah.” Read more here.
Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist known for pushing the envelope
Kirk, who was married and the father of two young children, had just returned to the United States from an overseas speaking tour in South Korea and Japan.
Known for his often-provocative discourse on topics ranging from race and gender to immigration and firearms regulation, Kirk often invited members of event crowds to debate him live.
At the moment he was shot, Kirk, a staunch advocate of the Constitution’s Second Amendment right to bear arms, was being questioned by an audience member about gun violence, according to multiple videos of the event posted online.
Where is Utah Valley University located?
Utah Valley University is located in Orem, Utah, just outside of Provo and about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. The university has over 45,000 students, according to its website.
Kirk’s appearance in Orem on Wednesday was the first in a planned 15-event “American Comeback Tour” of U.S. college campuses. Other universities on the tour included: Colorado State University, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Virginia Tech, Utah State University, Montana State University, the University of North Dakota, Indiana University, Louisiana State University and Ole Miss.
Contributing: Reuters
Source: Utah News