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Charlie Kirk: Trump says conservative activist has died after being shot at Utah university Manhunt intensifies for suspect who killed Charlie Kirk
(about 5 hours later)
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk has died after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Donald Trump announced on social media. Heavily armed policed are searching door-to-door for the suspect who fatally shot influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a busy event at Utah Valley University.
"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." The campus remains in lockdown as police roam the area searching for the shooter who fired a single shot, hitting Kirk in the neck as he was speaking at the outdoor student event.
Kirk, a fervent supporter of Trump, was the founder of Turning Point USA, a group that seeks to spread conservative ideas to students on US campuses. The 31-year-old founded Turning Point USA, a group that seeks to spread conservative ideas on American campuses, when he was still a teenager.
Officials say he had just begun speaking when a single gunshot rang out. Videos verified by BBC show him jolting backwards in his chair as students scatter in panic. President Donald Trump called Kirk a patriot and said his death was a "dark moment for America," Trump said.
A spokeswoman for Utah Valley University, Ellen Treanor, said the gunfire came from the Losee Center, a building about 200 yards away. In a video post, Trump said he is "filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk".
Another spokesman, Scott Trotter, told the BBC: "A single shot rang out in the quad near the food court on the Utah Valley University Orem Campus as Mr Charlie Kirk began speaking at his planned rally." Officials say only six police officers were working security at the event - which attracted at least 3,000 people to the outdoor quad - along with private security hired by Kirk.
"We can confirm that Mr Kirk was shot, but we don't know his condition," he said. No one else was shot at the event, and video shows students running for cover as the gunshot rang out at 12:20 local time (18:20 GMT).
Officials on Wednesday gave conflicting answers about whether the suspect, who dressed in all black and is believed to have fired from a nearby rooftop, had been caught.
Police confirmed that two people were taken into custody for interrogation, but released after finding "there are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals".
One man, George Zinn, was released after being charged with obstruction of justice. The other suspect was released with no charges filed.
"There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter," the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement on Wednesday night.
They said they believed the incident was a "targeted attack".
"The shooter is believed to have fired from the roof of a building down to the location of the public event in the student courtyard."
Hours after the shooting, people gathered near the locked-down campus, hoping to retrieve vehicles and other possessions they left behind as they fled.
Police are roaming the area, barring anyone from entering the campus as the search for the gunman intensifies.
Follow live: Charlie Kirk shot at Utah campusFollow live: Charlie Kirk shot at Utah campus
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BBC Verify has confirmed the authenticity of several videos of the shooting which have been posted online.BBC Verify has confirmed the authenticity of several videos of the shooting which have been posted online.
One video shows students crowded around a white tent emblasoned with the words, "THE AMERICAN COMEBACK" and "PROVE ME WRONG". One video shows students crowded around a white tent emblazoned with the words, "THE AMERICAN COMEBACK" and "PROVE ME WRONG".
Charlie Kirk can be seen sitting alone under the tent with several others standing nearby. Kirk can be seen sitting alone under the tent with several others standing nearby.
In another video verified by the BBC, Mr Kirk is seen speaking at the rally for around four seconds, before a single gunshot is heard. Students flee as Charlie Kirk is shot while speaking to a crowd of hundreds
He then appears to jolt backwards in his chair, before the camera pans away and the crowd begins to run in panic. In another video verified by the BBC, Kirk is seen speaking at the rally before a single gunshot is heard.
According to CBS, the BBC's US partner, Mr Kirk was heard discussing gun violence in the US in the moments before he was shot. He then appears to jolt backwards before the camera pans away and the crowd begins to run in panic.
Kirk had been discussing gun violence in the US in the moments before he was shot.
"Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last ten years?" one audience member asks him."Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last ten years?" one audience member asks him.
"Counting or not counting gang violence," he responds, before the shot rings out."Counting or not counting gang violence," he responds, before the shot rings out.
As the news broke, politicians from across the political spectrum, as well as right-wing influencers, condemned the attack. Witnesses described their horror at realising that Kirk had been shot.
"FBI and ATF agents are on the way. PRAY FOR CHARLIE," wrote Attorney General Pam Bondi, the highest-ranking US law enforcement official. "It's a little surreal. Especially then. It felt like a dream," a first-year student named Gavin told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.
Health Secretary Robert Kennedy wrote: "We love you Charlie Kirk. Praying for you." "Everyone started praying... Then, we started running."
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and one of Trump's top political rivals, called the attack "disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. Deseret News reporters Emma Pitts and Eva Terry described witnessing the attack.
"In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form." "I'll never get the image out of my head," Pitts said. "It looked like a fountain of blood came out of his neck. His body went limp and then his eyes closed."
A former Utah congressman who witnessed the attack described to Fox News how "everyone hit the deck" and "scattered" after the gunshot was heard. She added that she was surprised that "nobody scanned our equipment, nobody scanned our bags, there was no security like that".
"The shot came straight at him," Jason Chaffetz said, adding he had talked to Kirk just before the event started. Kirk's wife and children were at the event, according to Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullins
At the White House, several of Trump's press office staff reacted with visible shock. Watch: Video claims to show someone on roof at university where Charlie Kirk was shot
One aide exclaimed, "Oh my god, Charlie Kirk has been shot!" - drawing gasps from colleagues. Lawmakers from across the US expressed anger over the shooting and voiced disapproval at the violence surrounding his death.
In a video message from the Oval Office that Trump shared on social media, he hailed Kirk as "a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loves so much".
He called him a "model for truth and freedom" and went on to blame his death on "radical left political violence".
He also pledged to "find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence", and ordered that all US flag on federal properties be flown at half-mast.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox called the attack a "political assassination" and suggested that the killer could receive the death penalty.
"This is a dark day for our state, it's a tragic day for our nation," he said, adding that he was in touch with the White House and FBI.
The attack shocked Americans, and led to statements being issued by every living former US president, as well as world leaders including UK PM Keir Starmer, and the leaders of Argentina, Italy, Canada and Israel.
Republican Congressman Mike Kennedy told BBC News that Kirk will be remembered as a champion for free speech, and that his death "did not silence Charlie Kirk's voice, and he will continue to be heard and registered".
Intimidation and violence does not work against American citizens, he says, and "we'll continue to move forward with our constitutional privilege of freedom of speech and promoting that as Charlie did throughout his whole life".
Witnesses describe scene before and after Charlie Kirk shot