Videos from moments before Charlie Kirk was fatally shot show a demarcated space between the tent where the 31-year-old was speaking from and the thousands who came to hear him at Utah Valley University.
While a few security guards stood in front of Kirk, authorities believe a gunman likely shot him from a rooftop.
Using aerial images and video analysis, CNN’s Kyung Lah shows how it unfolded.
Manhunt continues for suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting. Here’s what we know
The shooter who killed prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk remains at large, after what police called a “targeted attack” on a Utah college campus.
Only one person is believed to have been involved in the shooting, said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who called Kirk’s killing “a political assassination.”
President Donald Trump described Kirk’s death as a “dark day for America” and blamed rhetoric from the “radical left” for causing political violence.
Here’s what else you need to know about the killing of the Turning Point USA founder.
- Targeted attack: Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University, a public university in the city of Orem. The shooter fired once, according to Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason, who said it was “a targeted attack towards one individual.” The department believes that the shooter fired from the roof of a building.
- Last moments: Kirk was shot while answering a question from an audience member about mass shootings. After he was hit, Kirk was taken “by private vehicle” to Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where he died, authorities said.
- Trump reacts: The president expressed his “grief and anger” about Kirk’s killing in a direct-to-camera video from the Oval Office. “Charlie inspired millions and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror,” Trump said in the four-minute video.
- Political violence in the US: Kirk’s shooting comes after a string of instances of political violence in the US, including the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in June, an arson attack at the Pennsylvania governor’s house in April, and the assassination attempt against Trump during the presidential election last July.
Witness to Kirk’s shooting recalls limited security at event: “It was just a normal campus day”
Skyler Baird, one of the thousands of people who went to see Charlie Kirk speak at Utah Valley University, described the moment the activist was shot.
“I was only maybe 15 feet away from him, and I heard a pop, and I said in my mind ‘that was a gunshot,’” he told CNN affiliate KUTV. “I pretty much knew immediately that he wasn’t going to make it.”
Baird noted that while there was security present near Kirk, the event space felt very open.
“He was well guarded against someone running up with a knife or someone who was trying to fight him personally, but security in the general area, it was just a normal campus day.”
Calling the shooting a tragedy, Baird said Kirk was at the university to “have a conversation with both sides of the aisle.”
“He wants that dialogue,” he said.
Shooter believed to have fired from building roof, authorities say
Authorities from the Utah Department of Public Safety believe that the shooter fired from the roof of a building near the campus courtyard where Kirk was killed.
“Any additional clarifications cannot be provided to protect the integrity of our investigation,” authorities said in a Wednesday press release.
A video captured by an attendee moments after Kirk was shot shows a figure ducking while running across the rooftop of the Losee Center, a building directly opposite to where Kirk was sat when he was killed.
Trump blames “radical left” for Charlie Kirk’s death and promises crackdown on political violence
President Donald Trump expressed his “grief and anger” about the killing of Charlie Kirk and blamed rhetoric from the “radical left” in a direct-to-camera video from the Oval Office.
“I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah. Charlie inspired millions and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror,” the president said in a four-minute video released this evening.
“This is a dark moment for America,” the president added.
Kirk, the president said, has become “a martyr for truth and freedom,” going on to express his prayers for the Kirk family.
The president connected Kirk’s death to his own shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, and other high-profile instances of violence, including the shooting of a UnitedHealthcare executive in New York in December and the 2017 shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise as he railed against “radical left political violence.”
“This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now. My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity,” Trump said.
He suggested that Americans and the media need to “confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree.”
Trump vowed further action, previewing a broader plan to crack down on political violence.
Here’s why authorities may be having a hard time finding Kirk’s killer, according to a chief CNN analyst
A manhunt is still underway as law enforcement tries to find the person who fired the shot that killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk today.
According to CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller, the shooter’s planning, skill and execution may be complicating the search.
He told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that snipers have been studied closely by the government and they typically are people who are “methodical and patient, self-reliant.”
“This is the kind of person who would have planned to get in silently, try to be invisible, take this shot, accomplish the mission, take the gun with them and leave little evidence behind which is why I think they’re having a very difficult time getting started on this.”
Officials said earlier today that they believe the shooter fired one shot at one person and that it was a targeted incident.
The single fired shot shows that “the person is not new to shooting,” Miller said, which ultimately could help officials get to the bottom of the investigation.
“This is someone who knew exactly what they were doing and is probably known to others, and this may be working to the advantage of law enforcement,” Miller said. “As someone who has a long history in shooting, this wasn’t an amateur.”
Charlie Kirk, conservative activist and Trump ally, killed in Utah shooting
Charlie Kirk, the conservative political activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was killed today after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Kirk was 31.
About his rise in conservative activism: As Trump remade the Republican Party, Kirk embodied the party’s newfound populist conservatism in the social media age. Kirk’s involvement began in the wake of the tea party movement and grew with Trump’s ascendance. Having co-founded Turning Point in 2012 at the age of 18, Kirk was a prominent supporter of Trump who courted young voters and used his network of nonprofits to seek to turn out voters on campuses and churches for Trump in 2024.
The Utah event was part of a tour: Kirk frequently traveled to college campuses, speaking and taking questions from audience members in exchanges that often led to viral videos. Kirk’s appearance at Utah Valley University today was the first of a 14-city fall American Comeback Tour, which had Kirk’s signature “Prove Me Wrong Table,” where Kirk would urge those who disagreed with him to debate an issue.
The moment of shooting: Kirk was answering a question at the event when a single pop was heard. Video taken by attendees shows the crowd screaming as Kirk recoils in his seat and appears to reach for his neck.
The president and dozens of other Kirk allies – as well as Democrats who had sharp disagreements with him – posted well-wishes and calls for prayer online.
Kirk, an Illinois native, married Erika Frantzve in 2021. The couple had two young children.
CNN’s John Miller also contributed to this post.
