Conservative activist Charlie Kirk (right), who helped President Donald Trump (left) win the 2024 election, has reportedly been shot (Picture: Getty Images)
A prominent right-wing political activist who helped Donald Trump win the 2024 election has reportedly been shot at a Utah event.
Charlie Kirk, 31, who co-founded Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck during a question-and-answer session with students at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, Deseret News reported.
Kirk was hit around 12.10pm and ‘taken from the location by his security’, stated the university on X.
One suspect has been taken into custody, according to a university alert to students.
‘A single shot was fired on campus toward a visiting speaker,’ stated the alert.
Moments before being shot, Kirk sat under a tent with The American Comeback Tour branding and spoke to a crowd of students, many of them wearing red MAGA hats.
Videos circulating social media show Kirk slumping in his chair and blood coming down his neck after a gunshot sounds. People in the crowd shout, ‘Run, run run,’ and start dispersing.
Kirk’s spokesman stated that he ‘has been shot at Utah Valley University. Condition unknown.’
Charlie Kirk was speaking to students as part of his The American Comeback Tour when he was shot (Picture: X)
The university has been placed on lockdown.
Trump quickly sounded off in support of Kirk.
‘We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot,’ he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
‘A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!’
A crowd of students gathered to watch Charlie Kirk speak at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday (Picture: X)
Vice President JD Vance wrote on X: ‘I am tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely. Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there.’
Senator Mike Lee said he was also tracking the situation ‘closely’.
‘Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there,’ he wrote on X.
Democrats also condemned the shooting.
Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk spoke on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Picture: Getty Images)
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a longtime rival of Trump, called the attack on Kirk ‘disgusting, vile, and reprehensible’.
‘In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form,’ Newsom wrote on X.
KUTV journalist Heidi Hatch wrote on X that her son was near the stage and was preparing to debate Kirk when ‘he said there was one loud gunshot and Kirk’s head flew back’.
‘Kids started screaming and running,’ Hatch reported, adding that her son was safe in his apartment.
Charlie Kirk (right), president and founder of Turning Point USA, and President Donald Trump (left) during a Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Washington, DC, in 2019 (Picture: Getty Images)
The Deseret News reported that the suspect was an older man. His identity has not been released.
Turning Point USA, a nonprofit formed in 2012, has a presence in 3,500 campuses and is the ‘largest and fastest-growing youth organization in America’, according to its website.
‘Since its founding, Turning Point USA has embarked on a mission to build the most organized, active, and powerful conservative grassroots activist network on high school and college campuses across the country,’ it states.
Source: Metro
This article uses information and media originally published by Metro.
