What we know about the assassination of Charlie Kerk

The pursuit remains for the person who shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Thursday, after a shocking scene at Utah University.

The conservative activist, 31, announced shortly after he was shot in the neck while a participation at the University of Utah Valley.

President Donald Trump, a close ally of Kirk, announced the news himself In a publication on his social reality.

Trump wrote on Wednesday: “Charlie Kerk, the great, and even legendary, died,” Trump wrote on Wednesday. “No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by everyone, especially I, and now, he is no longer with us.”

Here is what we know about the shooting.

Follow direct updates here.

When was Kirk fired?

Kirk was discussing the mass fire in the United States on Wednesday at the first station of “The Return of America” ​​when one shot came out at about 12:20 pm, and hit him in the neck.

On Thursday morning, the Public Safety Commissioner in the state of Utah Bou Mason said that the suspect arrived at the university at 11:52 am followed the observation video in the stairs, and set their way to the ceiling where they presented the deadly shot.

Then they moved to the other side of the building, jumped from the roof and fled to a nearby neighborhood.

The moment Kirk was filmed on a video of multiple angles.

Representative Anna Polina Luna, R. La, Call Consteals of social media platforms X, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok to remove “terrifying videos to kill Charlie Kerk”.

She said that the graphic videos should be taken in a non -communication mode, adding: “No one should have to restore this tragedy online.”

Witnesses described the Kirk seeing backward before hitting the ground when the chaos erupted between those present at the event, who nominated to cover.

“I saw a group of blood coming out of Charlie,” the witness, Justin Hakkins, told NBC News Tom Llamas. “I saw his body a kind of kicking and goes to the lameness, and everyone fell to the floor.”

Another witness, Tyler Mcgletigan, told NBC News that he was surprised that he was not asked to go to security to enter this event. He also said that no one examined his ticket when entering and that metal detection devices had not been deployed abroad.

Kirk was taken by his team and was taken to the hospital in a private car, where he later died.

Is there a suspect?

Officials are still looking for the person responsible for the shooting.

On Thursday, officials said the shooter appears to be in the age of the college, but he refused to give more details. The shooting place remained unknown, but Mason said they were using technology to determine the shooter from the video clips.

Masson said that the officials were combed in the neighborhood, where the shooter escaped, and they spoke to the witnesses and asked the residents to the door camera shots in order to identify the expected customers.

“We have good video clips for this person. We will not publish it at this time,” Masson said. “We are working through some technologies and some ways to determine this individual.”

Robert Bouhels, a special agent responsible for the FBI, said at a press conference on Thursday that the fire was believed to have used a high -power gun.

He said that the gun was recovered in a forest area where the shooter escaped. The FBI laboratory will analyze weapons.

Bulls said the investigators also gathered “the impression of the shoes, the printing of palm trees and the assistance of the analysis.”

The authorities said that the shooting was a “targeted attack” and a “political assassination”.

The shooter seemed to have shot a deadly fire from the roof of a building about 200 yards from where Kirk was speaking to a crowd of thousands. Masson said on Wednesday that they were wearing all the lions and disappeared after the shooting.

The authorities took one man shortly after the shooting and then released him shortly after. Later in the evening, the FBI director, Cash Patel, posted on social media that another man had been detained, but after less than two hours, he said the person had been released.

The authorities said last night: “There are no current fires with any of these individuals.” They are now asking the audience about advice.

Utta Valley University campus has been closed at least next week.

Who was Charlie Kirk?

Kerk An influential governor activist The co -founder of Turning Point Usa, a non -profit organization that enhances the conservative political ideals of youth.

It often occurs in high schools and on the university campus, where he participated in the discussion with the smaller generation on topics such as armed violence and transit rights.

Kirk, who is also controversial podquaster, has attached himself and his company to Trump during the 2016 elections, to become a strong supporter of Trump’s policy and management. It also appeared in a frequent appearance on Fox News.

Kirk promoted the idea that the 2020 elections were stolen, and that his company transferred people to the American Capitol building on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. He was an intimate friend of Vice President JD Vance and made a campaign alongside Vance and Trump in 2024, and he spoke on the first night of the Republican National Congress in July 2024.