The Latest: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk is fatally shot in Utah and a suspect is on the loose

Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Wednesday at an event at a Utah college, officials said.

President Donald Trump said Kirk was shot and killed at the event at Utah Valley University.

Videos posted to social media show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone at the university’s Sorensen Center courtyard, sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans, “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.”

A single shot rings out and Kirk reaches up with his hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream. Some run away.

A suspect has not been apprehended.

Here’s the latest:

An increase in violence against public officials

Kirk’s killing follows instances of political violence in the United States in recent months, including the assassination of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband in June and the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington in May.

Though little is known about the shooter or the motive in this case, it can’t be ignored that polarization and normalization of violence have become threaded through U.S. politics, said Kurt Braddock, an assistant professor of public communication at American University.

Braddock pointed to data from Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative, which shows that threat and harassment incidents against local officials also have been gradually increasing.

“We’re moving in a very dangerous direction, and I think we have been moving in this direction for quite some time,” Braddock said.

Trump says Kirk is dead

The president posted on Truth Social that the conservative activist and his close ally died Wednesday after being shot at a college event in Utah.

“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.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he has ordered that all American flags across the U.S. be lowered to half-staff until 6 p.m. ET Sunday.

Kirk helped build support for Trump among young people

Charlie Kirk, who rose from a teenage conservative campus activist to a top podcaster, culture warrior and Trump ally, was shot and killed Wednesday during one of his trademark public appearances at a college in Utah. He was 31.

Kirk died doing what made him a potent political force — rallying the right on a college campus, this time Utah Valley University. His shooting is one of an escalating number of attacks on political figures, from the assassination of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota to last summer’s shooting of Trump, that have roiled the nation.

A backer of Trump during the president’s initial 2016 run, Kirk took Turning Point from one of a constellation of well-funded conservative groups to the center of the right-of-center universe.

Kirk’s evangelical Christian beliefs were intertwined with his political perspective, and he argued there was no true separation of church and state.

He also referenced the Seven Mountain Mandate, which specifies seven areas where Christians are to lead — politics, religion, media, business, family, education and the arts, and entertainment.

Kirk argued for a new conservatism that advocated for freedom of speech, challenging Big Tech and the media, and centering working-class Americans beyond the nation’s capital.

Authorities are still searching for a suspect

The mayor of Orem, Utah, David Young, says the suspect in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk remains at large.

People at Utah Valley University, where the shooting occurred, have been told to ‘secure in place’ and the campus is closed. A post on the school’s emergency information page told those still on campus to call officials to be escorted from the area by police.

A person who was taken into custody at Utah Valley University was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

— Michelle L. Price contributed

Person arrested is not a suspect, AP source says

A person who was taken into custody at Utah Valley University was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

It was not clear if authorities were still searching the campus for a suspect.

— By Michelle L. Price

Trump says Kirk ‘was a very, very good friend’

In a phone interview with the New York Post, Trump said Kirk is “not doing well” and “it looks very bad.”

“He was a very, very good friend of mine and he was a tremendous person,” Trump said.

The president of Dartmouth College says a Kirk invite to that campus was in demand

Dartmouth College President Sian Beilock says a bipartisan student group invited Kirk to that Ivy League campus for a Sept. 25 event.

Beilock says the event “was sold out within 10 minutes.”

Beilock made the comment during a media event Wednesday with other college presidents.

Victims of political violence show support for Kirk

Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, posted that “the horrific shooting today at Utah Valley University is reprehensible. Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation.” Pelosi’s husband was seriously injured in 2022 by a man wielding a hammer, who authorities said was a believer in conspiracy theories.

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who suffered a serious brain injury in a 2011 shooting in Arizona, said she was “horrified” to hear of Kirk’s shooting. “Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” she said on social media.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and potential national candidate, said, “We must speak with moral clarity. The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying and this growing type of unconscionable violence cannot be allowed in our society.” A fire was set at his house.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was the subject of a kidnapping plot, said on social media that “we should all come together to stand up against any and all forms of political violence.” Two men were imprisoned for their 2020 plot to kidnap the governor during her first term.

A Republican at the event says he heard one shot

A former U.S. representative for Utah’s 3rd congressional district, Jason Chaffetz, says when the shot rang out, Kirk had just been asked a question by someone in the crowd about transgender people and shootings.

“As soon as I saw Charlie go back, you realize that it was a shot,” Chaffetz says. “It wasn’t as if there was a whole bunch of gunfire. It was one shot.”

Elected officials react to the shooting

— Vice President JD Vance: “Dear God, protect Charlie in his darkest hour.”

— Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: “Political violence must be always and totally rejected,” Buttigieg wrote on X. “Praying for him and all who may have been injured or impacted.”

— Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker: “The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying. Political violence has no place in this country and should never become the norm. I’m sending my sympathies to his family and friends at this time.”

— Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: speaking at a news conference on Everglades restoration Wednesday, said Kirk was known for sparking political debate rather than advocating hate or violence. “The way to resolve political disputes is not through violence. The way to do that is to ask questions, debate,” he said.

— Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper: “Violence is unacceptable. I strongly condemn the attack on Charlie Kirk and political violence in all forms. I’m praying for his swift recovery.”

— New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani: “I’m horrified by the shooting of Charlie Kirk at a college event in Utah. Political violence has no place in our country.”

— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Praying for @charliekirk11″

Kirk is in critical condition

A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told The Associated Press that Kirk is being treated and is in critical condition. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

— By Alana Durkin Richer

Utah Valley University is the state’s largest public university

With nearly 47,000 students, Utah Valley University has grown to become the largest public university in Utah.

It’s located about 40 miles (65 miles) south of Salt Lake City, the state capital, and was founded in 1941 as a vocation school. From those beginnings, its enrollment has jumped five-fold over the past three decades.

The college is not affiliated or owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church.

Bipartisan rejections of political violence continue

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, called the shooting “chilling & horrific” in an X post.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, another Democrat and potential national candidate, said, “We must speak with moral clarity. The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying and this growing type of unconscionable violence cannot be allowed in our society.”

Republican Senate Leader John Thune of South Dakota posted: “There is no place in our country for political violence. Period, full stop.”

Gabby Giffords says she is horrified about the shooting

Giffords, a former U.S. representative for Arizona who suffered a serious brain injury when she was shot in 2011, posted on X about the attack on Kirk.

“I’m horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah,” she wrote Wednesday.

“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence.”

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point USA

The event at Utah Valley University had been met with divided opinions on campus.

An online petition urging university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures.

The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

Trump says, ‘we must all pray for Charlie Kirk.’

“A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” the president said in a post on Truth Social.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI is “closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk.”

Vice President JD Vance also called for prayers, calling Charlie Kirk “a genuinely good guy and a young father.”

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Pam Bondi, and House Speaker Mike Johnson joined the chorus of Trump officials offering their prayers to Kirk.

Support also came from across the aisle.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the shooting “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation.”

Aubrey Laitsch at Turning Point USA confirms Charlie Kirk has been hospitalized.

“He is in the hospital, and we are praying for him at this time,” said Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point USA.

Former Utah congressman says Kirk had some security but not enough

Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said told Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.

“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.

He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.

“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”