Charlie Kirk killed in Utah Valley University shooting

A suspect in the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk in Utah is in custody, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Wednesday evening.

Patel’s announcement came hours after Kirk, 31, died after being shot while speaking to a crowd of several thousand people at Utah Valley University in Orem, where he had just been asked about mass shootings.

“The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody,” Patel wrote in a tweet.

“‘Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with @fbi. We will provide updates when able.”

Patel did not identify the suspect.

A gunman fired at Kirk from a campus building 200 yards away just after noon local time, hitting him once in the neck, the university said.

Kirk, who was married with two children, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was in surgery before President Donald Trump announced his death.

“This is a political assassination.” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at a press conference.

“We have a person of interest in custody,” Cox said. “The investigation is ongoing, but I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this, we will find you, we will try you, and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law.”

“I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah,” the governor said.

Cox said the person in custody is being interviewed.

“At this point, there is no information that will lead us to believe that there is a second person involved,” he said.

UVU cancelled classes and told people who remained on campus to “secure in place until police officers can escort you safely off campus.”

“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote.

“He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”

Trump ordered U.S. flags lowered to half-mast through Sunday to mark Kirk’s death.

Kirk was the co-founder of Turning Point USA and head of multiple related political organizations. HIs movement, which was aimed at young conservatives, has raised hundreds of millions of dollars.

A staunch Trump supporter, Kirk was also a personal friend of top officials in Trump’s administration.

He was at Utah Valley University on Wednesday for the first stop on Turning Point’s “American Comeback Tour,” according to the group’s website.

The event featured Kirk seated at his “prove me wrong table,” a format in which he debated people who challenged his views.

UVU is Utah’s largest public university, with nearly 47,000 enrolled students as of fall 2023.

Shortly before the shooting, Kirk tweeted about the event.

“WE. ARE. SO. BACK,” Kirk wrote on X.

“Utah Valley University is FIRED UP and READY for the first stop back on the American Comeback Tour.”

Jason Chaffetz, a former Republican congressman from Utah, told Fox News that he was at the event with family, and about 2,000 or so other people, most of them students.

Kirk had been asked a question about “transgender shootings, mass shootings” right before being shot, Chaffetz said.

“As soon as this shot rang out, everybody hit the deck, and then everybody started scattering and yelling and screaming, as you might imagine,” Chaffetz said. “I can’t say I saw blood. I can’t say I saw him get shot, but as soon as that shot went out, he fell back into his left and everybody hit the deck.”

Kirk’s wife, Erika Kirk, tweeted a biblical verse after the shooting.

“Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” Erika Kirk wrote.