By Ally Uhlendorf
Editor-in-Chief
Conservative activist, close ally of President Donald Trump and the founder of the nation’s pre-eminent right-wing youth activist organization Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot on Wednesday while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University.
Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s spokesman, says Kirk is dead, according to The New York Times.
Trump also confirmed Kirk’s death in a post on Truth Social.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “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!”
Ellen Treanor, a university spokeswoman, said that Kirk was struck about 20 minutes after he began speaking on the university’s campus in Orem, Utah. A suspect had fired from the Losee Center, a building about 200 yards away.
The university originally claimed that the shooter had been taken into custody. However, officials later determined that the person being detained by police officers in videos posted online was not the gunman, according to university spokesman Scott Trotter.
According to The New York Times, “search activity is continuing at Utah Valley University, where several groups of armed and outfitted agents can be seen making sweeps through central campus, on foot and on trucks.”
The shooter is still at large.
Update 6:31 p.m.: F.B.I. Director Kash Patel said the “subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody," according to The New York Times.
Update 6:33 p.m.: Commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, Beau Mason, said there is still an active investigation for the person of interest, who is still at large. This contradicts a social media post made by the F.B.I. Director Kash Patel stating that a suspect is now in custody.
Update 8:24 p.m.: The suspect taken into custody in connection with the shooting has now been released after being interrogated by investigators, according to Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director. “Our investigation continues,” he said on social media. Officials have not given any indication that the police have taken anyone else into custody.
Update Sept. 11, 2025: As of Thursday morning, the shooter is still at large. “The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement,” Kash Patel wrote on his X account, adding: “Our investigation continues.”
Update 10:30 a.m.: According to AP News, a batch of 911 calls was released Thursday from the Utah County Department of Public Safety via Broadcastify. These recordings include callers describing seeing a person on campus wearing “jeans, black shirt, black mask” and carrying a “long rifle.” A separate call mentions the suspect wearing a "black vest."
During a news conference on Thursday, law enforcement officials said they had obtained video footage of a suspected shooter. As of Thursday morning, officials had also recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle from the wooded area where the suspect fled, according to AP News.
Authorities also stated the shooter “appeared to be of college age” and “blended in” with students on the campus.
Update 11:10 a.m.: Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason stated that they are "confident they will find the shooter," according to AP News. Investigators now have images of a suspect and are analyzing a palm print and a shoe impression found near the scene, he said.
Update 12:08 p.m.: The F.B.I. released two photos of a person of interest. The photos show a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long sleeve black shirt.
This is a developing story; more updates to come.
