This is a developing story. Information may change as authorities release more details.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Wednesday during a speaking event at Utah Valley University, authorities said. He was 31.
Police said Kirk was struck by a single round fired from the roof of a building about 200 yards from the campus venue shortly after 1 p.m. local time. Kirk’s wife, Erika, and their two young children were on campus at the time of the shooting, according to Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. No one else was injured.
Former President Donald Trump mourned Kirk’s death in a post on Truth Social, calling him “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk” and ordering U.S. flags nationwide to be lowered to half-staff through Sunday. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote.
Details about the suspect remain unconfirmed at this time.
Kirk had been scheduled to begin a 14-city “American Comeback Tour” with Turning Point USA, with stops planned in Colorado, Minnesota, Virginia, and Montana. Known for his outspoken conservative commentary, “Prove Me Wrong” campus debates, and a large social media following, Kirk built Turning Point into one of the nation’s most visible right-leaning student organizations.
Born Oct. 14, 1993, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, Kirk briefly attended Harper College before co-founding Turning Point at 18. He was an evangelical Christian and outspoken supporter of Trump. His wife, Erika, survives him along with their 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.
