Conservative activist and US president Donald Trump's trusted ally Charlie Kirk was gunned down Thursday evening while giving a speech at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The 31-year-old activist was responding to a question about gun violence when a single gunshot was heard, and he was hit in the neck. Kirk was taken to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in a private vehicle, where he was declared dead.
In seconds, the crowd was in a panic. Eyewitnesses described the horrifying scene. Kirk fell to the ground, and blood gushed from his neck at the time, several said. "There was blood everywhere," one witness told ABC News.
Videos from the incident showed people screaming "Oh my God!" while darting for safety as panic rippled beneath a tent marked "American Comeback."
By late afternoon, theories about the place of the shooter were circulating. Video footage disclosed Friday for the first time in the officer's case reveals what seemingly is a gunman lying across the roof of UVU's Losee Center, about 200 yards from the stage.
The accuracy of the hit has prompted speculation that the attack could instead have been carried out by a professional marksman, said to have 'many similarities' to a professional sniper hit.
The Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner has called it "a targeted attack" towards one individual. The department believes that the shooter fired from the roof of a building.A manhunt is underway to catch the shooter.
Two people were initially arrested near the scene, but both were later released. While police have yet to confirm the weapon that was used or who the shooter was, the investigation into the case is still ongoing. Officials are asking the public not to spread further misinformation as online speculation flourishes.
The internet was also rife with conspiracy theories following Kirk's death. Some argued that the bullet hit him in the chest, others in the neck, with one user musing it might have even ricocheted before hitting him. Some netizens have even accused the rooftop footage of being fake and suggested that the video was edited.
That the tragedy occurred when it did has only intensified the debate. Hours before the shooting, Kirk made a posting on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) about the killing of Iryna Zarutska, of Ukraine, in Charlotte, N.C. The outcry followed Mr. Yousafzai's final post, which went viral after his death, with some supporters saying he may have "predicted" his own fate.
US President Donald Trump released a statement after the shooting in which he said the death of Kirk was "a great loss for the conservative movement." Tributes arrived from fans across the political spectrum as conspiracy theories threatened to drown out official updates from investigators.
At this point, the shooter is unidentified, and the motivation for the shooting is unknown. The rooftop video has added another layer of mystery to the killing, one that has left unresolved questions about whether Kirk's death was a carefully plotted sniper attack or the sort of opportunistic deed that has shocked the nation.
