Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth activist organization Turning Point USA, has died after he was shot during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump said on social media. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called the fatal shooting a “political assassination.”
The manhunt for the suspected shooter is still underway and the investigation is still ongoing, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
The Utah Department of Public of Safety said in an update Wednesday night that two people were initially taken into custody after the shooting but later released.
The first was released and later charged with obstruction by university police. The second person was taken into custody and released after an “interrogation” by law enforcement, the department said.
Utah authorities said “there are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals.”
The FBI said it is working alongside state and local law enforcement to “to fully investigate and seek justice in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk” and asked for tips from the public, urging anyone with information, photos and video from the incident to share it with investigators.
A single shot was fired on Utah Valley University’s Orem campus toward Kirk, a visiting speaker, shortly after noon, the school said.
“He was hit and taken from the location by his security,” the university said.
Kirk, 31, was taken to a hospital after being shot, according to Turning Point USA, which said, “with a heavy heart that we confirm that Charles James Kirk has been murdered by a gun shot” during the campus event.
“We ask that everyone keep his family and loved ones in your prayers,” the organization said.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason called the shooting a “targeted attack,” and said the scene is a “very large area.”
Mason said the “only information” they have on the possible shooter was taken from CCTV on campus, and that the person was dressed in all dark clothing. The shot was fired on campus from a “longer distance,” potentially from a roof, he said.
There is no evidence that anyone else was involved, according to authorities.
Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said the investigation is in the early stages.
“We are following all the leads and all the evidence,” he said during the press briefing on Wednesday.
The father of two young children was a Trump confidant at the forefront of a burgeoning conservative youth movement. Known as the “Trump whisperer,” Kirk was deeply involved in vetting top positions for the administration following the election and was in constant communication with top advisers and the president himself.
“It’s horrific. It’s one of the most horrible things I’ve ever seen,” Trump told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.
“He was a great guy,” Trump said. “He was a good man. He was an incredible guy. Nobody like him.”
FBI and ATF agents are on the scene, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
FBI Director Kash Patel said earlier the agency “stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
There was a discussion about shootings when the single shot was fired during the event.
Utah Valley student Luke Pitman, who witnessed the shooting, told Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX that he heard a “big bang.”
“We thought it was confetti. Then, everyone started ducking down,” he told the station. “And then, I look over at Charlie Kirk and I see blood coming from his neck.”
Utah Sen. Mike Lee said he is “tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely.”
“Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there,” he said on social media earlier Wednesday.
Vice President JD Vance called Kirk “a genuinely good guy and a young father” while urging prayers in the aftermath of the shooting.
said earlier he was being briefed “following the violence directed at Charlie Kirk” during the conservative political activist’s visit to the campus.
“Those responsible will be held fully accountable. Violence has no place in our public life. Americans of every political persuasion must unite in condemning this act,” he said on X.
The university was the first stop this fall for Turning Point USA’s “The American Comeback Tour,” which is traveling to multiple college campuses around the country. The tour has planned stops in Utah, Colorado, Minneapolis, Virginia and elsewhere, according to its website.
