OREM, UTAH — Witnesses to the deadly shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Wednesday have given terrifying stories of the turmoil that broke out during the event. Utah Governor Spencer Cox called the murder a “political assassination.” It has brought up a global issue about political violence and event security again.
Witnesses said that the firing started when Kirk was speaking to a group of several thousand people. Raydon Dechene, 51, who was in the front row, told media, “He was in the middle of a sentence.” I heard a snap out of nowhere, and then I watched his head fall back and blood gush out of his neck. Dechene reported that the shot sounded like it came from behind the audience, which caused a lot of terror. She remembered, “Everyone ducked, and then someone yelled, ‘Run!'”
Justin Hicken, 41, who was also there, said he was worried about what he thought was “inadequate” protection for such a big event, which he said had between 3,000 and 4,000 people. Hicken told The Independent that there were no metal detectors at the entry and that there weren’t many police officers around. He talked about the moments before the attack, when Kirk was just about to answer a question about gun violence. Hicken claimed, “I saw blood spurting from Charlie, his body kind of recoiled, and everyone started screaming.” “I was on the floor with bodies on top of me, listening and praying that there would be no more shots.”
Closure of the campus and an investigation
Police and federal investigators are still looking into the case. Officers are going door-to-door in adjacent communities and showing them a picture of a person they are interested in. There was some misunderstanding at first about whether a suspect was in custody, but FBI Director Kash Patel cleared things up on social media by saying that a person who had been detained was let go after being questioned. Late on Wednesday, officials verified that the suspect is still on the run.
After the disaster, UVU said that its campus had been cleaned and would stay closed until Monday, even though they said everything was fine. The inquiry is still going on. At first, officials put the school on lockdown, telling all students and staff to “secure in place.”
Responses from politicians
The murder of Charlie Kirk has made many on all sides of the political spectrum very angry. President Donald Trump confirmed Kirk’s death on Truth Social, saying, “ALL loved and admired him, especially me.” He also said that all American flags would be flown at half-staff until Sunday. Later, Trump sent out a video saying that the “radical left” was to blame for the murder.
The incident has become another example of the growing political violence in the U.S., and it has sparked fresh conversations about how to make public events safer and more polite.