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Conservative activist Charlie Kirk killed at Utah Valley University event
Gov. Cox called Kirk’s killing a ‘political assassination’
Published: Sept 10, 2025, 12:34 p.m. MDTUpdated: Sept 11, 2025, 8:45 a.m. MDT
In what Utah’s governor called a political assassination, a sniper shot and killed influential conservative Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, as he engaged students in a question and answer-style debate.
The killer remains at large, but Gov. Spencer Cox vowed that federal and state law enforcement officials would capture the shooter, even as President Donald Trump and other world leaders condemned the attack and the angry divides plaguing the country.
In a morning press conference, public safety officials said they had images of the shooter and recovered what they believe to be the weapon used in the attack, but the suspect is still at large.
Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said they tracked the shooter’s movements after he arrived on campus, after he shot Kirk from the roof, and then he jumped off the building and fled into a nearby neighborhood.
They aren’t releasing an image of the shooter at this time.
“The individual appears to be of college age,” Mason said.
Robert Bohls, FBI special agent in charge of the Salt Lake City field office, said they recovered a high powered bolt action rifle in a nearby wooded area where the shooter fled.
National tragedy
As the world awakens Thursday to the 24th anniversary of 9/11, another national tragedy has brought both condemnation and reflection to America with the death of Kirk, 31, who co-founded Turning Point USA and who generated 15 billion social media views in 2024 alone.
“To my great fellow Americans, I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah,” Trump said. “Charlie inspired millions, and tonight, all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror.”
Cox vowed that federal and state law enforcement officials would hunt down the killer.
“The investigation is ongoing but I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this, we will find you,” he said. “We will try you, and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law. And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah.”
Kirk was in the middle of answering politically charged questions about mass shootings in America when he was murdered, said Deseret News reporter Emma Pitts, who together with Deseret News reporter Eva Terry was covering Kirk’s campus rally and each witnessed the shooting.
Cox called the assassination a dark day for Utah and a tragic one for the United States of America, sentiment echoed by Trump hours later in a four-minute video message.
Cox was direct: “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”
Kirk was a popular podcast and cable news host. He was married with two children, all now grieving a husband and father who said he wanted to make America better. He came to Utah for what was to be two interactive debates, the first on Wednesday held in an outdoor, terraced amphitheater or bowl surrounded by Utah Valley University buildings near the campus food court.
The event was similar to 60 others Kirk has held on campuses around the nation, debates widely distributed on social media. It was to be followed later in the month with a similar event at Utah State.
UVU officials said a long-distance gunshot came from the top of the Losee building at UVU as he began to answer the second question from a student.
Kirk recently spoke to the Deseret News about his work, explaining that Turning Point USA is one of the largest conservative organizations for high school and college students in the country. Wednesday’s event was sponsored by UVU’s student chapter and attracted 3,000 students and community members on a bright sunny September day.
Pitts, the Deseret News reporter, said Kirk appeared at noon to raucous cheering. She was five rows from Kirk during the rally. She called it a “terrible irony” that Kirk was asked about mass shootings just before she heard a gunshot from behind her at 12:20 p.m.
“The first question was if Kirk knew how many mass shooters were transgender,” she said. The student who asked the question was challenging Kirk, who picked up a microphone on the desk in front of him and said, “Too many.”
Kirk was picking up the microphone to answer a second charged question about the number of mass shootings in America when a bullet appeared to strike him in the neck.
“I’ll never get the image out of my head,” Pitts said. “It looked like a fountain of blood came out of his neck. His body went limp and then his eyes closed.”
Pitts and Terry said they grabbed each other and dove to the ground with the rest of the crowd. They said many of what they estimated was a crowd of several thousand were hugging each other.
Pitts suggested to Terry that they pray.
“We said prayers out loud for him and his family and for the safety of everyone there,” Pitts said. They then called their editors and continued to report on a news story that focused the attention of the world on Orem, Utah.
Kirk was taken by personal vehicle to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, where he was pronounced dead, according to Utah DPS Commissioner Mason.
Kirk was a vocal and important supporter of Trump, who confirmed Kirk’s death on Truth Social.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. 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!,” Trump wrote.
Cox said university campuses have historically been places where truth is debated and ideas are formulated, and that Kirk believed his tour of college campuses was fostering debates foundational to the nation’s basic constitutional rights.
“When someone takes the life of a person because of their ideas or their ideals,” Cox said, “then that very constitutional foundation is threatened.”
The shooter fired at Kirk from the Losee Center, 200 to 300 yards away, UVU spokesman Scott Trotter said. Grainy security footage appeared to show the shooter lying down, and then running away after the shot was fired.
About 30 seconds after the shooting, the crowd started to get up, Pitts and Terry said. UVU Police Chief Jeff Long estimated 3,000 people were on campus for the event.
“We sprinted behind his tent and ran into the nearest building, got under a desk and called our editors,” Pitts said.
Officials swiftly moved to evacuate the campus and more than 80 first responder vehicles descended on the university.
SWAT, ATF Police, Utah County Sheriff deputies, Orem Police and officers from numerous nearby communities conducted a campus-wide manhunt for the shooter.
At one point, a SWAT truck with heavily armed team members hanging off the outside of the vehicle rolled up over curbs and across grass fields from the Keller Building to the campus library.
Officials detained a man named George Zinn shortly after the shooting but released him when they determined he did not match the shooting suspect and was not a person of interest, Mason said.
Zinn was subsequently booked into jail by UVU Police on suspicion of obstruction of justice, Mason said.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted on social media that another person of interest had been detained, but then said the person had been released after interrogation.
“There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals,” the DPS statement said. “There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter.”
Law enforcement officials said they did not believe there was a risk to the community.
“This incident occurred with a large crowd around. There was one shot fired, and one victim. While the suspect is at large, we believe this was a targeted attack,” said Mason, the public safety commissioner.
Pitts and Terry were assigned to cover Kirk’s UVU rally. They said the crowd was full of energy for his appearance.
The reporters said the campus cleared out quickly after the shooting. They stayed on scene to report and do interviews with national outlets, including ABC News, CNN, MSNBC, the Guardian, USA Today, the BBC and many more, bringing context to the days events.
Pitts said she was surprised that there were no scans and their bags weren’t checked when they entered the event. She didn’t feel there was a high security presence, which surprised her because Kirk was controversial.
“Nobody scanned our equipment, nobody scanned our bags, there was no security like that,” Pitts said.
Long, the UVU police chief, called the shooting a police chief’s nightmare. He said UVU had six police officers providing security in coordination with Kirk’s traveling security team.
Cox said the shooting was further evidence the nation is broken.
“Nothing I say can unite us as a country. Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken. Nothing I can say can bring back Charlie Kirk,” he said. “Our hearts are broken. We mourn with his wife, his children, his family, his friends. We mourn as a nation.”
The governor asked Americans to see beyond today’s political divide.
“If anyone in the sound of my voice celebrated even a little bit at the news of this shooting, I would beg you to look in the mirror and to see if you can find a better angel in there somewhere,” he said. “I don’t care what his politics. I care that he was an American.”
Cox called on America’s leaders and citizens to find ways to move forward.
“We need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be, to ask ourselves, is this what 250 years has brought on us?
“I pray that that’s not the case. I pray that those who hated what Charlie Kirk stood for will put down their social media and their pens and pray for his family, and that all of us — all of us — will try to find a way to stop hating our fellow Americans."
Cox ordered U.S. and Utah flags to be flown at half-staff on all state facilities to honor.
“Flags should be lowered to the half-staff position and remain in the half-staff position until sunset on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025,” he said in a statement. “I extend this invitation to all private citizens, businesses and other organizations.”
The FBI established a digital media tip line for information regarding the shooting at fbi.gov/UtahValleyShooting.
UVU has canceled classes for the rest of the week.
Former UVU first lady Paige Holland posted a response to the attack on her Facebook page. Her husband, Elder Matthew S. Holland is a former president of UVU and now serves as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
“Matt and I are shocked and heartbroken over the tragic news of the shooting that took place at UVU today,” she wrote. “We mourn with Charlie Kirk’s wife, children and family and pray they will find peace and healing. We also pray for those who witnessed this terrifying moment on a campus that was our home and that we love with all hearts. Such violence has no place in the world, anywhere.”
She echoed statements by Cox and UVU vice president Val Peterson about UVU’s culture as an academic institution.
“UVU is a place deeply committed to learning, understanding and respect for all,” Paige Holland wrote. “What we saw today was the very opposite of that institution’s core values. We are also mindful of the many people — the first-responders and volunteers — who acted so quickly to offer help in time of need. In this sad and ugly moment, we know that, more than ever, the world needs peacemakers. As friends of UVU and as brothers and sisters around the world, let us work together to offer comfort to those in need and resist the darkness of hate with the light of love."
Peterson, the UVU vice president, said the school was mourning with Kirk’s family.
“On behalf of Utah Valley University, we are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charles Kirk. We express our sincere condolences to the Kirk family. We grieve with our students, faculty and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy,” Peterson said.
The FBI special agent in charge of the Salt Lake field office, Robert Bohls, said the agency would cooperate with local officials in the investigation.
“We have full resources devoted to this investigation, including tactical, operational, investigative and intelligence,” he said. “To be clear, the FBI will fully support and co-lead this investigation alongside our partners. We are working on setting up a digital media tip line, and as soon as it’s established, we’ll get that information out to everyone.”
At least 60 first responder vehicles were blocking the campus entrance Wednesday afternoon. Police responded from the Utah Highway Patrol, Orem, Provo, Springville, Lehi, Lindon, Spanish Fork and Payson.
By Emma Pitts, Eva Terry, Tad Walch
The Deseret News reported from the scene at Utah Valley University.
