Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organisation "Turning Point USA" has died after being shot on Wednesday at an event at a university in Utah, US President Donald Trump announced.
"The great, and even legendary, Charlie Kirk is dead", Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
"No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie," the US president added.
"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 concluded.
A member of Kirk's organisation earlier said the 31-year-old Trump ally is in critical condition.
“We are confirming that he was shot and we are praying for Charlie,” said Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point.
Videos circulating on social media show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone at Utah Valley University, sitting under a white tent with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong".
A single shot rang out shortly after Kirk ended his response to one of the questions from a member of the audience, before he was seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushed from the left side of his neck.
A suspect was taken into police custody immediately following the shooting, but has since been released, according to reports. A law enforcement officer told AP that an investigation is already under way.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his non-profit organisation. The event had been met with divided opinions on campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures.
The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Earlier, Trump and a host of Republican and Democratic elected officials alike condemned the shooting and offered prayers for Kirk on social media.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said he spoke to Trump after Kirk was shot. "We will bring to justice the individual responsible for this tragedy," Cox said.
Utah Senator Mike Lee described Kirk as an "American patriot" following Trump's announcement of his death. "The terrorists will not win. Charlie will," Lee said. "May justice be swift."
FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency is closely monitoring the situation, noting that the bureau's agents are on their way to the scene to lead investigation efforts into the incident.
Left-wing US influencer Hasan Piker, who was set to debate Charlie Kirk later this month, condemned the shooting as “a terrifying incident” and said that anyone could be the next target, including himself.
“The reverberation of people seeking out vengeance in the aftermath of this violent, abhorrent incident is going to be genuinely worrisome,” Piker added.
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18 years old, and William Montgomery, a Tea Party activist, to advocate on university campuses for low taxes and limited government, both libertarian talking points.
Although it was not an immediate success, the organisation has grown in size over the years, now reaching hundreds of thousands across the United States.
But Kirk’s passion for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable television, where he leaned into the so-called "culture wars" and backed the then-president. Trump and his son were equally grateful and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
