{"id":58063,"date":"2025-09-10T18:52:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T22:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=58063"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:52:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T22:52:42","slug":"charlie-kirks-assassination-shocks-utah-university-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2025\/09\/10\/charlie-kirks-assassination-shocks-utah-university-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Shocks Utah University Event"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah college event, Trump says<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk stands in the back of the room as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Kirk, the conservative firebrand and founder of Turning Point USA, has died after he was shot while speaking at a Utah Valley University event in Orem, Utah, according to President Donald Trump. <\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump shared news of his death on Truth Social<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote. “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!”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graphic video posted to social media<\/a> shows Kirk on stage, sitting in a chair, talking into a microphone. A single gunshot was heard and Kirk’s head thrust back as he fell. People started screaming and running away, the video shows. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Kirk, 31, was on campus for the first stop of his American Comeback Tour<\/a>.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the latest:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alleged gunman is in custody<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6:21 p.m. ET: <\/strong>FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed later on Wednesday that the gunman has been taken into custody. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law enforcement to hold news conference<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6:09 p.m. ET: <\/strong>Law enforcement scheduled a news conference to provide an update on the investigation into Kirk’s shooting death on Wednesday at 6 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump orders flags lowered to half-staff<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5:15 p.m. ET:<\/strong> On Truth Social<\/a>, Trump said he has ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Kirk. <\/a>The order extends through 6 p.m. Sunday. Flags were already going to be half-staff Thursday for the anniversary of 9\/11. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suspect not in custody<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4:42 p.m. ET: <\/strong>There is no suspect in custody. Earlier, the university said there was a suspect in custody, but officials have since confirmed that’s not true. According to The Associated Press, a person was detained after the shooting, but that person is not the shooting suspect. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security officials meeting in Situation Room<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 p.m. ET: <\/strong>Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich said national security officials are meeting in the Situation Room to monitor the shooting. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018People started screaming,’ witness says<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3:39 p.m. ET: <\/strong>Jason Chaffetz, a former Utah congressman and Fox News contributor who was at the event with his family, told Fox News there were about 2,000 people at the event. It\u2019s the largest university in Utah, he said, with more than 40,000 students.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaffetz said Kirk was responding to a question about transgender mass shooters when a shot rang out. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As soon as that shot went out, he fell back \u2026 and everybody hit the deck, a lot of people started screaming, and then everybody started running,” he recalled. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaffetz said there was some police presence and Kirk has a limited security detail, but “there was no security check going in.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I just hope he in some way survives this,” he said. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Kirk shot<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we know:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the university, a single shot was fired at Kirk from a nearby building around 12:10 p.m. local time, about 20 minutes after he started speaking. The shot was fired from about 200 yards away, officials said. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus has been closed for the remainder of the day. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirk had posted on X earlier showing photos and videos of the crowd before the event started, but the post has since been deleted. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we don’t know:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gunman, who was taken into custody later on Wednesday, according to FBI Director Kash Patel, has not been identified. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What they’re saying:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump responded to the shooting on his Truth Social account<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” Trump wrote. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency is monitoring reports of the shooting. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President JD Vance asked for people to pray for Kirk.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah posted on X that he is “tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there,” he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox also weighed in on X.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is Charlie Kirk?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The backstory:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirk is the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA<\/u><\/strong>. Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has appeared alongside Trump on stage at political events and is also a frequent commentator on Fox News, CNBC, and FOX Business News. He was the youngest speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirk played a major role in Trump\u2019s 2024 presidential campaign. He was credited with turning out the younger vote for Trump. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pattern of political violence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big picture view:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States across all parts of the ideological spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania\u2019s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of President Donald Trump during a campaign rally last year.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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