Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday while speaking to a large crowd at Utah Valley University in Orem, President Donald Trump said.
Kirk, 31, was shot at least once in the neck just after noon local time, about 20 minutes into his event, according to UVU.
Kirk was shot by a rifle from the Losee Center, about 200 yards away from where he had been speaking, a university spokeswoman said.
The gunman remained at large, according to the spokeswoman.
U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025.
Trent Nelson/the Salt Lake Tribu | Via Reuters
UVU closed its campus and cancelled classes, telling people still on campus to “secure in place until police officers can escort you safely off campus.”
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote. “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!”
Kirk, who was married with two children, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he had been in surgery before Trump announced his death.
U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk throws hats to the crowd shortly before he was shot at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025.
Trent Nelson/the Salt Lake Tribu | Via Reuters
He was the co-founder of Turning Point USA and head of multiple related political organizations. HIs movement, which was aimed at young conservatives, has raised hundreds of millions of dollars.
A staunch Trump supporter, Kirk was also a personal friend of top officials in Trump’s administration.
He was at Utah Valley University on Wednesday for the first stop on Turning Point’s “American Comeback Tour,” according to the group’s website.
The event featured Kirk seated at his “prove me wrong table,” a format in which he debated people who challenged his views.
UVU is Utah’s largest public university, with nearly 47,000 enrolled students as of fall 2023.
The scene after U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk was shot at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025.
Trent Nelson/the Salt Lake Tribu | Via Reuters
Jason Chaffetz, a former Republican congressman from Utah, told Fox News that he was at the event with family.
Kirk had been asked a question about “transgender shootings, mass shootings” right before being shot, Chaffetz said.
“As soon as this shot rang out, everybody hit the deck, and then everybody started scattering and yelling and screaming, as you might imagine,” Chaffetz said. “I can’t say I saw blood. I can’t say I saw him get shot, but as soon as that shot went out, he fell back into his left and everybody hit the deck.”
Kirk’s wife, Erika Kirk, tweeted a biblical verse after the shooting.
“Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” Erika Kirk wrote.
Shortly before the news of the shooting broke, Kirk’s official X account tweeted about the event.
“WE. ARE. SO. BACK,” Kirk wrote. “Utah Valley University is FIRED UP and READY for the first stop back on the American Comeback Tour.”
Charlie Kirk speaks during a town hall meeting Monday, March 17, 2025, in Oconomowoc, Wis.
Jeffrey Phelps | AP
— CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this story.
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