A shooting spree unfolded Wednesday at a Utah Valley University campus event at school in Orem, near Salt Lake City. The state taxpayer-paid event was headlined by big-time right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk, the head of right-wing propaganda outfit Turning Point USA and a holy terror of the Donald Trump variety, had come to speak to students. Then, out of nowhere, he was shot in the throat.
The event was the first in a semester long series of discussions designed to get students more engaged with critical political issues. In his second, the audience member debater emphasized the epidemic of mass shootings in the United States. He wondered how often these horrific events happened over the last 10 years. This guy, man, a tough questioner, goes to Kirk and says, do you know how many mass shootings we’ve had over the past decade? He, too, wished to learn whether Kirk had counted gang violence in that total. Kirk’s answer was, “Too many,” before the gunshot cut short the panel’s conversation.
In a simulated act of civil disobedience, attendees quickly laid down on the street. They needed to almost immediately protect themselves from any future harm. One witness described the immediate response:
“And then before he could even answer, we heard a gunshot and we just saw Charlie Kirk’s neck turn to the side and it appeared that he had been shot in the neck. There was blood, immediately a lot of blood,” – Pitts.
Prior to the accident, the vibe was extremely upbeat. Over and over again, students told me how thrilled they were to have Kirk at the event.
“After the shots were fired, everyone immediately took to the ground. Me and Eva just hugged each other as tight as we could as we were just trying to stay hidden. I don’t know how quickly it was, probably within a minute, everyone started running away … Since then the university has been completely evacuated,” – Pitts.
As law enforcement officials arrived at the scene, they were beyond diligent and went as far as making sure the entire university was evacuated for safety precautions.
“Charlie showed up, and I feel like the crowd was generally super positive, very happy with him coming to Utah. We interviewed a lot of people beforehand, they were just so eager to be interviewed,” – Pitt.
In spite of all of the disorientation and panic, those in attendance obviously cared about Kirk’s health.
“It looks like it came from the middle to the right side of the audience,” – Terry.
Our investigation of the shooting remains ongoing, and law enforcement is actively working to identify the shooter and reason for the attack.
“We hope Charlie Kirk is OK and that people in the event are OK because it was really scary for pretty much everyone there,” – Terry.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, with law enforcement actively seeking answers regarding the shooter’s identity and motive.