What we know about the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk

Authorities are still looking for the person who fatally shot right-wing activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk on a college campus on Wednesday.

Kirk, the 31-year-old CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on the first stop of his American Comeback Tour. President Trump announced his death and ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff through Sunday in mourning.

Kirk, a close Trump ally, is credited with energizing young Republicans and helping them deliver his electoral victory in 2024. His death has drawn condolences — and condemnation of political violence — from both sides of the aisle.

Speculation abounds over who is responsible, particularly after federal authorities took two people into custody only to release them both. The Utah Department of Public Safety, which says the shooting is “believed to be a targeted attack,” said late Wednesday that the investigation and search for the shooter are ongoing.

Here’s what else we know.

Kirk had only been speaking for a few minutes

The university confirmed Kirk was shot at 12:10 p.m. local time, 10 minutes after the student-sponsored event started. A shot is believed to have been fired from the roof of a building about 200 yards away from Kirk, it said.

“He was hit and taken from the location by his security,” it said.

Police cleared people from the campus as it closed down. One of those people was Emma Pitts, a staff writer with Salt Lake City-based Deseret News.

Pitts told NPR the atmosphere at the outdoor event was pleasant before the shooting, with a handful of people protesting, and someone waving a Pride flag from the balcony.

“There were so many college students. Everyone just seemed so happy to have Kirk there,” she said.

About 3,000 people were in the crowd, university police said. The Utah Department of Public Safety said university police had six officers working the event, in addition to Kirk’s own security detail. Pitts said there was no bag screening process for ticketholders as they filed into the courtyard.

Kirk was answering an audience member’s question about mass shootings and gun violence when the shot was fired, according to the Associated Press. Graphic videos circulating on social media show Kirk — sitting in a chair under a tent with signs reading “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong” — holding a microphone when he suddenly appears to grab his neck and slump out of his chair.

Pitts reported that after the shot rang out, she saw “so much blood” coming from Kirk’s neck, and said he “went limp.” Attendees ducked down soon after, she said.

“The amount of blood I saw immediately, I just don’t see how someone would survive from that, and it’s a tragedy,” she said.

The university will be closed through Sunday.

“We are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk, a guest to our campus,” a statement from the university said. “Our hearts go out to his family.”

Authorities are still searching for a suspect

The search for the shooter has been the subject of considerable confusion and apparent false starts.

Just after 6 p.m. ET, FBI Director Kash Patel tweeted that “the subject for the horrific shooting” was in custody. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox similarly said at a press conference that a person of interest was in custody, but that the investigation was ongoing.

“I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this: We will try you and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law,” Cox said. “And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah.”

Around 8 p.m. ET, however, Patel tweeted that “the subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.”

Utah’s Department of Public Safety later said that two people had been taken into custody: a suspect who was later released and charged with obstruction by Utah Valley University police, and a second suspect who was released after interrogation.

“There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals,” it added.

The department said law enforcement is working multiple active crime scenes, based on where Kirk was shot, “as well as the locations where the suspect and victim traveled.” It is asking anyone with information about the shooting to share it with the FBI’s digital tip line.

Condolences and condemnations pour in

Politicians and public figures are condemning Kirk’s killing, even those on the left who say they vehemently disagreed with his views. An advocate for free speech and limited government, Kirk also used his sizable platform to spread falsehoods and conspiracy theories about topics including climate change, vaccines, transgender people and demographic change.

Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush — as well as the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation — issued statements condemning such an act of violence on a college campus.

Trump posted a four-minute video from the Oval Office expressing his “grief and anger” at the “heinous assassination” of his conservative ally.

He blamed the media and the political left for the violence, which he said included the assassination attempt against himself in Butler, Pa., during the 2024 campaign.

“It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible,” Trump said.

Trump did not include any examples of political violence against Democrats. Those include the June attack in Minnesota that killed a state lawmaker as well as her husband and dog, and left another lawmaker wounded, and the arson attack at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence in April.

“We’ve had political assassinations recently in Minnesota, we had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania and we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate … and now-president of the United States,” Cox, a Republican, said at his press conference. “Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken.”

An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released in July found that 73% of Americans see politically motivated violence as a major problem, with little difference between political parties.