Charlie Kirk shot dead as manhunt intensifies for Trump ally killed at Utah campus: Live updates

Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance are expected to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, to pay respects to Kirk’s family, a source familiar with the plans told NBC News this morning.

The date of the Vances’ visit was not immediately clear.

Tiana Lao, a 20-year-old marketing student at Utah Valley University, arrived at Charlie Kirk’s event on Wednesday with excitement.

Lao told the BBC that, initially, “it seemed like a peaceful debate.”

She was, however, surprised by what she described as lax security measures given the near-3,000 audience members in attendance.

“No-one was checking bags,” Lao added.

When the first gunshots rang out, Lao was initially confused, but the situation quickly became clear as people ducked and screamed.

“Then we realised this was serious. We were both crying – I was shaking uncontrollably,” she said.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was debating mass shootings with a member of his audience in the moments before he was shot dead on a university campus in Utah on Wednesday.

Kirk was sitting beneath a canopy branded “The American Comeback Tour” and bearing the slogan “Prove Me Wrong,” when he was shot approximately 20 minutes into his appearance.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked.

“Too many,” Kirk responded to applause from the crowd.

The attendee informed him that the total was five and continued: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk replied before, seconds later, he was struck by the bullet and fell from his chair, prompting the panicked crowd to disperse in terror.

Joe Sommerlad has the details:

Just hours before being fatally struck by gunfire Wednesday, Charlie Kirk took to X to post about politicizing the “senseless murder of Iryna Zaurtska,” the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee stabbed to death on a light rail train in North Carolina.

Zaurtska was killed last month by a homeless man with a string of criminal convictions in a seemingly random attack, having recently arrived in the U.S. seeking safety and “new beginnings” after fleeing her war-torn home.

The Ukrainian’s death has become a flashpoint for MAGA activists, who have targeted perceived failures of “soft-on-crime” Democratic policies.

Leaders from around the globe have mourned Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old right-wing activist shot dead in Utah on Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on X that it is “heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband,” adding: “There can be no justification for political violence.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he spoke with Kirk just two weeks ago, stating he was “murdered for speaking truth and defending freedom.”

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also offered her condolences and said on X that she was “shocked by the news of the killing of Charlie Kirk.”

Sharing a picture of himself with Kirk, Argentina’s President Javier Milei said: “A formidable disseminator of the ideas of freedom and staunch defender of the West.”

Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old right-wing activist, was killed just at about 12.20 p.m. on Wednesday by a single gunshot to the neck while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.

As state and federal authorities search for the suspect, cops initially estimated that shots were fired from about 182m away.

Now, Utah officials estimate that the shot that killed Kirk came “potentially from a roof” about 130m away from where he was sitting.

The map below details where a dark shape appeared on a roof near the scene, which social media claimed could be the suspect. However, authorities have not confirmed whether it was the shooter.

Missouri Representative Eric Burlison has called for Charlie Kirk ro be laid to rest at the Capitol Rotunda, and claims that Donald Trump can “make it happen.”

The Republican lawmaker added in his X post last night that “no one has had a greater impact on the political climate of the United States for the last decade than Charlie Kirk.”

Chris Pratt has led celebrity tributes to right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot at a rally in Utah on Wednesday.

Figures from both sides of the political aisle have paid tribute, including celebrities such as Hollywood actor Pratt, TV host Piers Morgan and comedian and host Rosie O’Donnell.

“Praying for Charlie Kirk right now, for his wife and young children, for our country,” Pratt wrote on X/Twitter. “We need God’s grace. God help us.”

The manhunt for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s killer continues after he was fatally shot while speaking at a political event on a Utah college campus.

The 31-year-old Trump ally was killed Wednesday in front of a crowd attending a speaking event in Orem, with shocking video of his death posted on social media.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that an earlier “subject” who was being questioned has since been released.

“The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency,” Patel said.

Rhian Lubin outlines everything we know about the shooting so far: