Charlie Kirk, a well-known conservative activist in the United States and staunch ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead at an event at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Wednesday.

Video of the incident circulating on social media showed Kirk speaking to a large outdoor crowd when a loud crack, a gunshot, rang out.

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Kirk briefly clutched his neck before collapsing from his chair, sending attendees fleeing. He was 31 years old.

The suspected shooter remains at large but is thought to be college-aged, authorities said on Thursday.

A bolt-action rifle believed to have been used in the shooting was found in nearby woods. The rifle and three unfired rounds of ammunition inside it were engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the investigation and an internal law enforcement bulletin.

“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” Utah Governor Spencer Cox said after the shooting.

“I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.”

Here is what we know:

What happened?

Kirk was on a speaking tour, and his stop at UVU was the first of at least 15 scheduled events at universities around the country as part of his “American Comeback Tour”.

Six officers were working the event and there were more than 3,000 people in attendance, according to Jeff Long, chief of the UVU police.

Kirk also had a private security team with him.

Before the shooting, he was seated at his “Prove Me Wrong” debating table, taking questions from an audience outdoors.

Videos show that Kirk was going back and forth with a student about mass shootings and transgender people when he was shot.

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

“Too many,” Kirk responded as the crowd clapped.

“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” To which Kirk replied, “Counting or not counting gang violence?”

Seconds later, Kirk could be seen struck in the neck as he fell from his chair.

The scene after U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk was shotThe scene after US right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk was shot at a Utah Valley University event in Orem on September 10, 2025 [Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via Reuters]

According to reports, Kirk was shot about 20 minutes after he began speaking at approximately 12:10pm (18:10 GMT).

Beau Mason, the head of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said one shot was fired.

In footage from the event, Kirk can be seen moving his hand towards his neck as he falls from his chair, sending the attendees running. In another clip, blood can be seen gushing from his neck immediately after he was shot.

No one else was shot during the event.

Kirk’s wife and children were present during the incident.

Cofounder and president of Turning Point, Charlie KirkCharlie Kirk at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the US, in July 2024 [Josh Rushing/Al Jazeera]Where did the shooting happen?

The shooting took place in the UVU courtyard, about 64km (40 miles) south of Salt Lake City.

A spokeswoman for the university said Kirk was shot from the roof of the school’s Losee Center, a campus building 100-200 yards (roughly 90-180 metres) from the event area.

It was not clear whether the shot was fired from a rooftop or an open window.

Founded in 1941 as a vocational school for war production training, UVU enrolled more than 46,800 students in 2023.

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Who was Charlie Kirk?

Kirk was one of the most prominent conservative activists and media personalities in the US, and a trusted ally of President Trump.

He cofounded Turning Point USA, a nonprofit conservative advocacy group, when he was just 18.

Kirk’s group grew into the country’s largest conservative youth movement, and over the years, he became a central player in a network of pro-Trump influencers, often described as the face of the “Make America Great Again” movement.

Trump often credited Kirk with bringing many young voters and voters of colour over to his side during the 2024 presidential campaign.

He was also a sharp critic of mainstream media and threw himself into culture-war battles over race, gender and immigration.

His provocative style won him a loyal support base but also fierce opposition.

Through his podcast, his many speaking appearances and the books he has written, such as the 2020 best seller Cofounder and president of Turning Point, Charlie Kirk, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference [File: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]

Kirk became a close friend of the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and the two travelled together to Greenland in January. He also emerged as an early supporter of Vice President JD Vance as Trump was deciding whether the senator would be his running mate.

Kirk had 5.5 million followers on the platform X and hosted The Charlie Kirk Show, a podcast and radio programme that reached more than 500,000 listeners each month. He made regular appearances on Fox News, including a recent guest cohosting slot on Fox & Friends.

According to a report by The New York Times, Kirk never pursued a role within the administration. His aim was to reshape the Republican Party and, more broadly, US politics.

“We want to transform the culture,” he told The New York Times Magazine in February.

Kirk also built a fortune through his popular podcast, frequent speaking engagements and books, including his 2020 bestseller, The MAGA Doctrine.

On social media, he posted constantly, offering a right-wing perspective on a plethora of issues.

In response to the fatal, unprovoked stabbing of a white woman by a Black man, Kirk posted this on X on Tuesday:

What were some of Kirk’s most controversial positions?

Kirk made several controversial statements on issues including gun laws, Black Americans, Gaza and Islam.

Black Americans

He had, on some occasions, criticised the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter movement, and aired his belief that whites are disproportionately attacked by Black people in the US.

On September 9, the day before he was killed, Kirk appeared on Fox News, accusing US Democrats of pushing a “false narrative” that Black Americans are under attack in the US, when in reality he said, white people were being targeted. He was speaking regarding the unprovoked murder of a Ukrainian woman last week by a Black man on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“White individuals are actually more likely to be attacked, especially even per capita, by Black individuals in this country,” he said.

Islam

Kirk once compared Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with the child sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, referring to the prophet’s marriage to Aisha at a young age. In an interview with GB News in May, he also said Islam was “at odds” with Western values. “Islam does not believe in freedom of speech, Islam does not believe in freedom of religion, and Islam does not believe in separation of mosque and state,” Kirk said.

Gaza

Kirk was a strong supporter of Israel and backed its war on Gaza. On one occasion, he questioned whether Palestine even exists. In May this year, while debating a pro-Palestinian student at Cambridge University, Kirk justified Israel’s two years of war on Gaza, saying: “When you declare war on Israel, expect a firestorm in reaction.”

Gun laws

Kirk was a staunch supporter of the right to own guns in the United States. Speaking at an event in April 2023 at the Salt Lake City campus of Awaken Church in Utah, Kirk said a few gun deaths every year were an acceptable price to pay for the right to own guns.

“It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” he said. The Second Amendment of the US Constitution grants Americans the right to bear arms.

“That is a prudent deal. No one talks about that,” Kirk added. He also said schools should be protected by armed guards to reduce school shootings, rather than by passing anti-gun laws.

Abortion

Kirk believed in “traditional” gender roles for women and was against abortion, even in exceptional circumstances. In a debate hosted by Jubilee Media in September 2024, Kirk said that in a hypothetical scenario, he would not allow a 10-year-old daughter who was pregnant from rape, to have an abortion.

What do we know about the shooter?

While a bolt-action rifle believed to have been used in the shooting was found on Thursday in nearby woodland, the shooter remains at large.

Investigators said they found three rounds of unfired ammunition engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology inside the rifle, according to a Thursday report by the Wall Street Journal, which quoted a person familiar with the investigation and an internal law enforcement bulletin.

On Wednesday, there was initial confusion about whether a suspect had been taken into custody in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

A “person of interest” was reported to be in custody on Wednesday evening, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said, though no charges were immediately announced.

Later, Utah police said two people had been considered suspects, but they were released after officials found they had no links to the shooting.

Following new information on Thursday, Mason told a press conference that police were hunting a specific individual whose movements investigators have been able to track.

“We were able to track the movements of the shooter starting at 11:52 am, this subject arrived on campus shortly away from campus,” Mason said. “We have tracked his movements onto the campus, through the stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof, to a shooting location.

“After the shooting, we were able to track his movements as he moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building and fled, off of the campus and into a neighbourhood.”

Mason said investigators had “good” video footage of the individual. “That individual appears to be of college age,” he added.

Later on Thursday, the FBI released photos of a “person of interest’ in the shooting, but did not say if the image, showing a man in a black, long-sleeved shirt, hat and sunglasses, was of the suspected shooter.

What’s the latest on the ground?

Currently, the campus is closed, according to the university, and it will remain closed until September 14.

“On behalf of Utah Valley University, we are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk, a guest to our campus. Our hearts go out to his family,” UVU said.

UVU said while an investigation is ongoing, there is no continuing threat to the campus.

How has Trump responded?

The US president described the killing as a “dark, dark, moment for America”. He ordered all American flags to be lowered to half-staff until Sunday evening, in honour of Kirk.

Trump also recorded a video from the White House that was both an ode to Kirk and an angry criticism of liberals, whose rhetoric he blamed for Kirk’s assassination.

“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. Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to open debate and the country he loved so much, the United States of America.”

Trump 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”.

He accused the “radical left” of comparing “wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals”.

“This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we are seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”

How have others responded?

Democrats and Republicans quickly denounced the shooting on social media and in Congress.

“There is no place” for this violence, former US President Joe Biden said on X.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris in a post on X, wrote: “I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.”

Vice President JD Vance reacted:

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking to US troops on Wednesday, hailed Kirk as a “dear friend”.

First Lady Melania Trump also paid tribute to Kirk.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a Fox News interview that the shooter should face the death penalty.

“I’m very angry,” DeSantis said.

“Obviously, they’ve got to catch this guy. We need a very quick death penalty prosecution. I don’t want to see this take forever. We need justice for this,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had invited Kirk to Israel just two weeks earlier, describing the 31-year-old as a “lion-hearted friend of Israel”.

Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy, posted on Telegram: “There was an attack on Charlie Kirk, one of the most ardent conservative leaders known for his positive statements about Russia and his calls for dialogue.”

Barack Obama, former US president, said “despicable violence has no place in our democracy”.

Former US President Bill Clinton said on X he was “saddened and angered” by the killing.

Bernie Sanders, former US presidential candidate and Vermont senator, said on X that “political violence has no place” in America.

George Bush, former US president, also condemned the killing in a post on X, saying: “Violence and vitriol must be purged from the public square.”

Turning Point also posted on X:

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned what he called “political violence” and commiserated with Kirk’s family in a post on X.

American author Stephen King said Kirk’s assassination was “another example of American gun violence”.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former Brazillian president Jair Bolsonaro, similarly denounced Kirk’s assassination in a series of X posts.

“I had the honor of accompanying him in his work and know the greatness of his mission. Another conservative victim of hate and intolerance,” Bolsonaro wrote.

Dean Withers, an American livestreamer and liberal political commentator, who was often seen on the opposite end of Kirk during debates on political YouTube channels, said in a TikTok video: “I’m sad, distraught. In fact, I just cried in front of my livestream in front of 250,000 people.”

“[Gun violence] is always disgusting, always vile and always abhorrent,” he added. “My thoughts and prayers go out to Charlie Kirk’s friends, family, children, loved ones, as well as every single person in attendance at his event today in Utah.”