Charlie Kirk dies at age 31 after being shot while speaking at a Utah college: Manhunt underway for suspect
Influential right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has died at age 31 after being shot in the neck during a speaking event on a college campus in Utah.
Kirk was in the middle of a question-and-answer session with Utah Valley University students moments before the crack of a single loud rifle shot sent a large crowd into panic.
The Turning Point USA founder began to bleed profusely from his neck before collapsing.
President Donald Trump announced Kirk’s death in a Truth Social post.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” wrote Trump, who announced his death before it was confirmed by his family, law enforcement or Turning Point.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump added. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”
Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika Lane Frantzve, and two children.
The president ordered American flags lowered to half-staff until September 14.
A suspect is not yet in custody following initial campus alerts stating that a suspect had been arrested, and federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have launched a manhunt.
“Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected,” FBI director Kash Patel said moments after the shooting. “Agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
The campus has been closed, classes have been canceled, and students and others on campus have been instructed to leave the university “immediately,” according to a university announcement.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said he spoke with Trump and is being briefed by law enforcement.
“Those responsible will be held fully accountable,” Cox said moments after the shooting. “Violence has no place in our public life. Americans of every political persuasion must unite in condemning this act. Our prayers are with Charlie, his family, and all those affected.”
Kirk, a 31-year-old political activist and media personality who founded influential right-wing advocacy group Turning Point USA, was well known for his campus appearances and debates surrounding hot-button issues.
He formed the group in 2012 when he was 18 years old and emerged as an influential voice among Trump’s supporters with an audience on his social media channels and streaming video networks that reached millions of followers.
Kirk also developed a close relationship with the president and other prominent Republican figures and has helped shape Trump’s Cabinet while leading get-out-the-vote campaigns that mobilized thousands of Turning Point members in the weeks leading up to the 2024 election.
He had recently launched the American Comeback Tour with visits to college campuses across the country.
Kirk was addressing a crowd at the university in Orem, Utah, roughly 35 miles from Salt Lake City when he was fatally shot.
He was positioned under a tent emblazoned with “American Comeback” in a courtyard next to a student center as he took questions from members of the crowd.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” one audience member asked.
“Too many,” Kirk replied.
The attendee followed up by asking whether Kirk knew “many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked in response.
Kirk was “about 60 to 90 seconds” into his answer, “and that’s when the shot went off,” eyewitness Justin Hicken told The Independent in a phone interview Wednesday.
“I saw blood spurting from Charlie, his body kind of recoiled, everybody started screaming,” he said.
“People dropped to the floor, a whole bunch of bodies all over, just crazy stuff,” Hicken added. “As I was on the floor with bodies on top of me, I was listening, praying, that hopefully there are no more shots.”
Trump, Vice President JD Vance and a host of administration officials and allies urged Americans to pray for Kirk following news of the shooting.
Democratic officials have also offered prayers for Kirk and his family and condemned acts of political violence.
Wednesday’s shooting follows a streak of political violence across the country in recent months, including the assassinations of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota in June and two attempted assassinations targeting Trump in 2024.
Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who was targeted in a 2011 assassination attempt that nearly killed her, said she was “horrified” to hear news of the 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 wrote Wednesday.
“There is no place in our country for this kind of violence,” former president Joe Biden wrote. “It must end now.”
Former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said she is “deeply disturbed” by news of the shooting.
“Let me be clear: Political violence has no place in America,” she wrote on social media. “I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson called for a moment of silence on the House floor.
“Political violence has become all too common in American society, and this is not who we are,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “We need every political figure, we need everyone who has a platform to say this loudly and clearly. We can settle disagreements and disputes in a civil manner, and political violence must be called out, and it has to stop.”
