The Latest: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk is shot and killed while speaking at a Utah college

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Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a single shot in a targeted attack during an outdoor event Wednesday at Utah Valley University, authorities said.

Kirk co-founded the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and was a close ally of President Donald Trump.

No one was in custody Wednesday evening as authorities seek a new person of interest in the assassination, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. The Utah Department of Public Safety also confirmed no one was in custody in the investigation into Kirk’s killing.

“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”

The shooting comes amid a spike in attacks on political figures in the United States across all parts of the ideological spectrum.

Here's the latest:

With moderate winds picking up at times, people clutched candles that wouldn’t stay lit and little U.S. flags while reciting Catholic prayers and singing verses. The Rev. Daniel Cruz led a rosary.

John Yep, president and CEO of Catholics for Catholics and a friend of Kirk’s, was the only other speaker at the vigil, which was also livestreamed. He shared how he sent Kirk a text after learning of his passing today.

“I want you to know we’re gonna honor your blood, your sacrifice and your tears,” Yep said, summarizing his text. “Your little tiny kids are gonna know that when their dad was taken from this Earth, that we came here and prayed.”

Scottsdale, where Kirk has a home, is a suburb of Phoenix, where Kirk’s Turning Point organization has its headquarters.

The crowd outside Timpanogos Regional Hospital lined the road, holding American flags as passing cars honked. Visitors placed lit candles, bouquets of flowers and small American flags in front of a large hospital sign.

As the sun set in Utah, some attendees read Bible passages, while others spoke about continuing the work that Kirk had begun.

Erynn Lammi, a 35-year old student in attendance who heard the gunshot, stayed back rather than immediately evacuating.

After the panic subsided, Lammi saw belongings, including AirPods, phones, keys and trash, strewn across the steps of the courtyard.

When she returned home, Lammi sobbed, feeling for Kirk’s wife and children as she was reminded of the loss of her own father when she was 13 years old.

One of the emotions she said she felt as she cried: “Powerlessness.”

Ryan DeVries, who works in property management and volunteers as a first responder, left his firearm in his car before attending Kirk’s event, anticipating metal detectors. He said he was surprised by the lack of security.

The 25-year-old was weaving his way through the tightly-packed crowd to pose a question to Kirk when, at about 50 feet (15 meters) away, he heard what sounded like a “popping” firework. Then he saw Kirk’s head slumped.

A stampede rife with terror and panic soon erupted, DeVries said. Some attendees darted to a nearby building and ran through a water fountain to escape. Others ducked down.

“People definitely feared for their lives. I could see it in their eyes. I could hear it in their voices. People were crying. People were screaming. It was a nightmare,” DeVries said.

DeVries walked up to the university’s Turning Point student chapter table, where he joined its members in a prayer for Kirk.

“It was a come together moment.”

Authorities say about 3,000 people attended the Utah college event where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed.

The Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement Wednesday evening that the event was held at an outdoor bowl courtyard on campus known as the university quad. It is a common spot for campus events.

“We cannot ignore the flames of political violence threatening society,” said Shalomyah Bowers, a leader of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc.

Charlie Kirk had maligned the Black Lives Matter movement at the heigh of a national reckoning on racism.

“We are committed to breaking the pattern of reactionary violence, moral relativism, and dehumanization — and urge everyone to resist calls for revenge,” Bowers said. “Vigilante justice has no place in a just society. Not on the left. Not on the right. Not in response to racism, and not in the name of righteousness. It must be rejected, always.”

Traditional news organizations were cautious in their coverage of Kirk’s assassination not to depict the moment he was shot, instead showing video of him tossing a hat to his audience moments before, and panicked onlookers scattering wildly in the moments after.

In practical terms, though, it mattered little. Gory video of the shooting was available almost instantly across social media platforms, from several angles, in slow-motion and real-time speed. Millions of people watched.

In the fragmented era of social media, smartphones and instant video uploads, editorial decisions by legacy media are less impactful than ever.

There can also be an important message sent by news outlets being cautious in what they show, Cornell University professor Sarah Kreps said. “It can be a signal for how things should be stigmatized, rather than validated or normalized.”

But on the day of the shooting in a politically polarized country, the easy availability of shocking images ran the risk of making society’s wound even more painful.

▶ Read more here about how the videos spread

Trump has condemned the “demonizing” of political opponents in the U.S. even as he claimed the rhetoric of the “radical left” was “directly responsible” for the assassination of Kirk.

Authorities have not named a suspect and no one is in custody for the killing.

In a video message from the Oval Office late Wednesday, Trump called Kirk “a martyr for truth and freedom.”

The Republican president faced two assassination attempts during last year’s campaign, and he was wounded in one.

In his remarks, Trump mentioned shootings of United Healthcare’s chief executive and Republican Rep. Steve Scalise. But he omitted any reference to attacks on Democrats, such as the killing of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman.

“Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives,” he said.

A few dozen people gathered, holding electric candles in the slanting afternoon light. Bible verses were read to the quiet onlookers.

A witness testified of what she observed: The crack of a gunshot, Kirk keeling over and then her run through campus.

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This post has been updated to correct the name of the city where the vigil was held to Orem, not Omer.

Cari Bartholomew, state director of Utah Moms for America, said she had taken her 17-year-old son out of school so he could attend Kirk’s event. They were joined by other moms from the group and their kids.

Bartholomew’s son was in line waiting to ask a question when the gunshot rang out. Chaos ensued and she couldn’t find him as people ducked for cover and started running. She later learned her son was unharmed.

“All of us, we were trying to grab the little kids and getting them as near to us as possible,” she said.

She said some students were visibly distraught while others laughed, and said she’s concerned that people are being taught to hate others who have viewpoints different from their own.

Rather than fall into a place of fear, Bartholomew said she hopes people will be inspired to pick up where Kirk left off and continue to push for civil engagement.

“I hope that it gets people to steel their spines,” she said. “We’ve got something to fight for.”

“May Charlie be received into the merciful arms of Jesus, our loving Savior,” the large banner reads alongside a photo of Kirk and the Turning Point logo.

Authorities are seeking a new person of interest in Kirk’s assassination, according to a law enforcement official.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

The Utah Department of Public Safety has also confirmed no one is currently in custody in the investigation into Kirk’s killing.

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By Alanna Durkin Richer, Lindsay Whitehurst and Zeke Miller.

Utah Valley University said in a post on X that the campus is “all-clear.”

“There is NO ongoing threat to campus,” the post Wednesday evening said.

The university added that the campus will still be closed until Monday amid the ongoing investigation.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether anyone remained in custody or if the shooter was still at large as law enforcement provided evolving and difficult-to-reconcile information.

FBI Director Kash Patel, who earlier in the day posted on social media that a “subject” had been taken into custody, later wrote that the person had been released after being questioned.

Utah authorities had separately said a person of interest was in custody, but it wasn’t immediately clear if that was the same person Patel referenced as having been released.

Police helicopters still were circling over Orem in the early evening, and roadblocks caused congestion on the roads surrounding the Utah Valley University campus.

Armed officers walked around in small groups. Just off campus, a man stood on a street corner holding a sign that read “R.I.P. Charlie” and a parade of trucks drove through town flying American flags in his honor.

New York City police say the killing in Utah is prompting added security for events in the city marking the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Vice President JD Vance is set to attend tomorrow’s memorial ceremony at the World Trade Center site while President Donald Trump is scheduled to be at the night game pitting the Yankees against the Tigers.

Security around the 9/11 commemorations in New York is always comprehensive, with street closures, a large police presence and the Sept. 11 memorial plaza in Lower Manhattan closed to the public.

Officials didn’t detail exactly how security would be increased.

Video shows Kirk had been taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked.

Kirk responded, “Too many.”

The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.

Then a single shot rang out.

Jeff Long, chief of Utah Valley University Police Department, says six officers working at Kirk’s campus event and more than 3,000 people were in attendance.

The police chief says his officers coordinated their operation with Kirk’s security team, and plainclothes police officers were also present.

At the time he was shot, Kirk was speaking to the throng in a low area surrounded by campus buildings.

Long said law enforcement tries to get the “bases covered.” But he added, “unfortunately today we didn’t, and because of that we have this tragic incident.”

Students, meanwhile, told The Associated Press they saw no metal detectors or bag checks. The amount of security appeared consistent with other speaking engagements on Kirk's national tour.

The FBI’s Salt Lake City office has added an online form to its website where the public can report information about Kirk’s killing.

The form says the FBI is “seeking information regarding the shooting at Utah Valley University that took place on September 10, 2025.”

It asks the person submitting the form to include their name and contact information and then includes a section for information about the incident.

In a lengthy social media post, President Trump’s son says Kirk wasn’t just a friend, but was “like a little brother to me” and a “true inspiration.”

Trump Jr. said Kirk “changed the direction of this nation” because “there is no question that Charlie’s work and his voice helped my father win the presidency.”

He said Kirk was civil and kind, and listened and responded with respect.

“The only ‘threat’ he ever posed was that he was incredibly effective. He was a powerful messenger of truth, and people heard that truth. That’s what made him a target.”

Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan appeared visibly upset while speaking to reporters on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. She said that she cried when she found out that Kirk had died.

“All of us have got to work together and deescalate the heat and the rhetoric in this country, she said. Dingell added: “And remember we’re Americans, and you can disagree in a way that doesn’t end in the horrible way today did.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin expressed condolences to Kirk’s family, adding, “What a nightmare this whole thing is.”

“It’s a very dark time with the political violence spiraling out of control and gun violence a threat to everybody,” Raskin continued.

Gov. Spencer Cox said that Kirk had come to the Utah Valley University campus to represent his conservative views and debate. Targeting people for their ideas threatens the country’s “constitutional foundations,” he said.

“We just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be,” he said. “I don’t care what his politics are. I care that he was an American.”

Cox said the first of the inalienable rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence is “life, and today a life was taken. Charlie Kirk was first and foremost a husband and a dad to young children. He was also very much politically involved. And that’s why he was here on campus. Charlie believed in the power of free speech and debate to shape ideas and to persuade people.”

The flags outside Turning Point USA’s Phoenix headquarters have been lowered to half staff.

Bouquets of flowers delivered by well-wishers are piling up by the main door to one of at least three buildings that make up Turning Point’s campus. The organization’s presence has grown steadily in a quiet neighborhood at the base of South Mountain park.

Bush lamented the killing and said “an open exchange of opposing ideas should be sacrosanct” on a college campus, where Kirk was shot.

In his statement, Bush added: “Members of other political parties are not our enemies; they are our fellow citizens.”

The Republican ex-president closed the statement by asking God to bless Kirk and his family and “guide America toward civility.”

Another former president, Democrat Bill Clinton, wrote on X that he was saddened and angered by the killing, adding he hoped “we all go through some serious introspection” and “redouble our efforts to engage in debate passionately, yet peacefully.”

Retiree Alex Lane said news of Kirk’s killing prompted him to head to the organization’s Phoenix headquarters and hand the organization a $10,000 check.

“I hope and trust that they’re going to continue with the message that he had,” Lane, 54, told The Associated Press while standing outside the headquarters. Lane said he was a follower of Kirk’s and had given to Turning Point before, but never such a large sum.

“It’s a huge loss, there’s no question about it,” Lane said. “But I think the important thing for people to understand is that (Kirk’s message) is going to continue. The assassin didn’t stop it. If anything, I think it will bring more attention to his message.”

Multiple Republicans in Congress knew Kirk personally and were devastated by his death.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida spoke on the Capitol steps, reflecting on his influence on her political journey. Luna said she was planning to go to medical school before Kirk recruited her to work as his national Hispanic outreach director. She attended events where Kirk debated students, like the one he hosted today.

“That conversation needs to happen,” Luna said. “You can’t squelch that.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called the killing a “political assassination."

A “person of interest” was in custody Wednesday evening, Cox said, though no charges were immediately announced.

“This is a dark day for our state,” Cox said.

“We are actively looking for anyone and everyone who has any information related to the shooting,” he said.

Utah authorities said the shooter wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to invoke his family’s losses as he reacted to Kirk’s killing.

“Once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era,” Kennedy wrote on social media. He called Kirk a “relentless and courageous crusader for free speech.”

Kennedy’s father, for whom he was named, was assassinated in 1968 as he sought the Democratic presidential nomination.

The elder Kennedy was an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War before many elected leaders in Washington. He also had been an advocate for civil rights legislation as attorney general during his brother’s presidency and after John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.

One man delivered flowers and wiped tears from his face as he left. He said he was too broken up to speak to reporters.

On the sidewalk, 14-year-old Samuel Monahan embraced his parents in prayer.

“This is what happens when we’re without God,” said Monahan.

The teenager said he admired Kirk for being a man of God who cared about people. The country is so polarized, he said, “but it didn’t have to be that way because we all bow our heads under one flag and under one God.”

“This kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy,” former President Barack Obama wrote on X.

He said he and former first lady Michelle Obama will pray for Kirk’s wife and two young children.

“It makes me mad. I’m so mad that this happened in our backyard. It’s an embarrassment,” the Utah Republican former member of Congress told Fox News Channel.

Chaffetz was at the event where Kirk was shot.

“We’re better than this, but there’s somebody out there who is evil, absolute total, complete evil and they need to be taken down,” he said.

He was calling it “The American Comeback Tour.” And he was featuring his “Prove Me Wrong Table,” where Kirk sat, as he was Wednesday, and fielded questions from students, including those who disagreed with him.

He also had appearances slated for Colorado State University, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Virginia Tech University, Utah State University, the University of North Dakota, Montana State University, Indiana University Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi over the next two months.

Armed officers are walking around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter.

Officers have been seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognize a person of interest.

Mayor David Young of the north-central Utah city of Orem says several local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating and that the suspect in Kirk’s shooting remains at large.

Young says police in Orem and at Utah Valley University are among many agencies involved in the investigation.

Meanwhile, authorities have told anyone at Utah Valley University to ‘secure in place’ after Wednesday’s shooting. The campus was closed, and a post on the school’s emergency information page told those still on campus to call officials to be escorted out.

Kirk’s killing follows instances of political violence in the United States in recent months, including the assassination of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband in June and the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington in May.

Though little is known about the shooter or the motive in this case, it can’t be ignored that polarization and normalization of violence have become threaded through U.S. politics, said Kurt Braddock, an assistant professor of public communication at American University.

Braddock pointed to data from Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative, which shows that threat and harassment incidents against local officials also have been gradually increasing.

“We’re moving in a very dangerous direction, and I think we have been moving in this direction for quite some time,” Braddock said.

The president posted on Truth Social that the conservative activist and his close ally died Wednesday after being shot at a college event in Utah.

“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.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he has ordered that all American flags across the U.S. be lowered to half-staff until 6 p.m. ET Sunday.