Charlie Kirk, the American conservative activist and staunch ally of Donald Trump, has been killed on a college campus in what authorities are calling a “political assassination”.
Harrowing footage of the incident circulating on social media showed the 31-year-old speaking to thousands of students at Utah Valley University when a gunshot rang out on Wednesday afternoon.
Despite the efforts of emergency services, Kirk was pronounced dead a short while later in hospital. Here is what we know so far:
What happened in Utah?
Mr Kirk was in Orem for the first of 15 scheduled events at universities across the United States as part of his “American Comeback Tour”.
Prior to the shooting, the father-of-two was taking questions from students outdoors on issues such as mass shootings.
At approximately 12.10pm local time, around 20 minutes into the rally, Mr Kirk was struck in the neck by a bullet as he fell from his chair, sending attendees fleeing the area.
His wife Erika and two children, whose names are unknown to the public, were present during the incident.
Where did the shooting occur?
A spokesman for the UVU said Mr Kirk was shot from the roof of the school’s Losee Center, roughly 150 metres from the courtyard where he was making his address.
It was not clear whether the shot was fired from a rooftop or open window, nor what gun was used to kill him.
Founded in 1941 as a school for war production training, UVU has an enrollment of 46,000 students, making it one of the largest universities in the Rocky Mountain region.
Following the shooting, the university said campus will remain closed until Sunday, September 14.
Who was Charlie Kirk?
Dubbed a “youth whisperer” of the right, Kirk was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago where he co-founded the non-profit Turning Point youth organisation in 2012 when he was just 18.
The group grew into the country’s largest conservative youth movement and later spread across the Atlantic with the launch of Turning Point UK in 2018.
Over the years, Turning Point became a central player in the “Make America Great Again” movement, with Trump crediting Kirk with bringing young voters over to the GOP during his successful 2024 presidential campaign.
A frequent writer and prominent broadcaster, Kirk had a huge support base with more than 7.3 million followers on TikTok, 7 million on Instagram, 5 million on X, formerly known as Twitter, and 3.5 million on YouTube.
What do we know about the killer?
A “person of interest” was in custody on Wednesday evening, Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced, although no charges were announced.
Orem Police Department said two people had been considered suspects, but they were released after it transpired they had no links to Mr Kirk’s death.
Utah’s public safety commissioner said the gunman appeared to be of “college age” and had blended in well with other students.
Investigators have released photos of a “person of interest” and appealed for public help in identifying the man, who was wearing sunglasses, Converse shoes and a “distinctive” long-sleeved black top featuring an American flag and an eagle.
At a Thursday night press conference, Utah Governor Spencer Cox also released video footage of what police believe to be the suspect fleeing the scene. The clip shows a figure dressed in black running across the roof of the building where the shot was fired, leaping to the grass below, and then walking towards a nearby road and a cluster of trees.
The FBI earlier said they had recovered a high-powered firearm — an imported Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle — wrapped in a towel in a wooded area.
Other videos also appear to show a dark figure running across the roof of a building in the aftermath of the shooting.
Six officers were working the event, despite there being more than 6,000 people in attendance. Mr Kirk also had his own security guards with him.
What has Trump said?
The White House has ordered all American flags to be lowered to half-staff until Sunday evening in honour of Mr Kirk.
Trump, who survived an assassination attempt by Thomas Crooks in Pennsylvania last year, described the killing as a “dark, dark, moment for America”,
He said it was “long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonising those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most despicable way possible”.
Trump also accused the “radical left” of comparing “wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals”.
How have others responded?
Figures from all sides of the political spectrum have roundly denounced the shooting, with former president Joe Biden saying “there is no place for this kind of violence” while Barack Obama stated that “despicable violence has no place in our democracy”.
First Lady Melania Trump added: “Charlie’s children will be raised with stories instead of memories, photographs instead of laughter, and silence where their father’s voice should have echoed.”
My thoughts this evening are with the loved ones of Charlie Kirk.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 10, 2025
It is heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband.
We must all be free to debate openly and freely without fear - there can be no justification for political violence.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had invited Mr Kirk to Israel just a fortnight earlier, described him as a “lion-hearted friend of Israel”.
And Turning Point said in a statement: “May he be received into the merciful arms of our loving saviour, who suffered and died for Charlie.”
