U.S. political violence has surged into the national spotlight after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and later died during a public event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
A university spokesperson said the shooting suspect remains at large, contradicting the school's earlier statement that police had a person in custody, CNN reports.
House Speaker Mike Johnson condemned the act as "detestable," adding, "This is not who we are."
The shooting drew widespread bipartisan condemnation. President Donald Trump mourned Kirk on his Truth Social platform, calling him "legendary" and expressing sympathy to his family.
Utah Valley University confirmed the suspect is not a student and targeted Kirk from roughly 200 feet away.
Kirk's death follows a string of politically motivated attacks in recent years. In June, Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, while Senator John Hoffman and his wife were critically injured in a targeted home attack.
Last December, UnitedHealthcare (NYSE:UNH) CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated in Manhattan by a suspect whose manifesto criticized the healthcare system; authorities treated the killing as terrorism.
And in July 2024, a gunman attacked then-presidential candidate Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, killing one and injuring two others.
These events highlight a troubling trend of ideologically driven violence, prompting renewed calls for a national recommitment to civility and political discourse, as well as some semblance of gun control.
As of Sept. 9, there have been 298 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2025, according to the Gun Violence Archive. This figure includes events where four or more people were injured or killed by a firearm.
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