OREM, Utah — A suspect is in custody after conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was killed after being shot during a speaking appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Watch FOX 13 News live coverage of UVU shooting below:
"...Charlie Kirk, is dead," President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social account. "He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us."
Kirk's Turning Point USA organization also confirmed its founder's death.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the suspect was in custody just before 4:30 p.m., but no identification was given. However, during an afternoon briefing at the school, local officials only called the subject a person of interest.
School officials said one shot was fired from the top of the Losee Center on campus, which is approximately 200 yards from where Kirk was speaking. Officials are still analyzing security camera footage and said the suspect was dressed in all-dark clothing.
The shooting occurred about 20 minutes into Kirk's speech as he sat under a tent in the Sorensen Center courtyard with the slogans, “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.”
Video below shows Kirk seconds before he was shot on campus:
Video of the incident shows Kirk being shot in the chest or neck area before he falls to his left. The crowd of a few thousand that had gathered immediately began to scatter from the courtyard among screams.
The shooting came moments after Kirk was speaking about gun violence and mass shootings in the country.
During a briefing from state officials, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the incident was a "dark day for our state, it's a tragic day for our nation."
Video below shows students scattering from courtyard after shooting (Adam Bartholomew @Lifeisdriving with Mainstreet Media Utah):
Video from the scene immediately showed a man being detained by police, but authorities said he was no longer a suspect involved in the shooting, but had been booked into jail for obstruction of justice.
The FBI is among several agencies working on the case, and a tip line is being set up to help with the investigation.
"This is very much an active case, and this investigation is in its early stages," said an FBI spokesperson. "We are following all the leads and all the evidence."
Six officers with the small Utah Valley University Police Department were working the Kirk event, according to Chief Jeff Long, who added that plainclothes officers were in the crowd, as well. Kirk also had his personal security team with him on campus during his speech.
"You try to get your bases covered and, unfortunately, today we didn't," Long said. "And because of that, we had this tragic incident."
Watch full police briefing on UVU shooting below:
In the minutes following the shooting, several of the estimated 3,000 people who were in the courtyard for Kirk's speech shared what they saw and heard.
"We hear a shot and then there's a wave of blood come out of his chest, and we all get down. I had a couple of people trample me actually, so it was pretty horrific," said Ethan, a student at the school, about the shooting.
Witnesses below describe scene on campus after Kirk shooting:
Utah Valley University was immediately placed on lockdown, and all classes have been canceled until Monday. BYU in nearby Provo remained open but with an increased police presence.
“It just sound[ed] like an earthquake, and everyone starts screaming,” said Angeline Paul, who was in a classroom next to the courtyard. “And then all these kids start running into our classroom … falling on the ground, and they're like, ‘There's a shooter! There's a shooter!’”
She and her fellow students then started taking active shooter precautions like turning off the lights and locking the door — “kind of going down the list of things we need to do.”
Other witnesses explained how the reality of what happened in Orem seemed to take a page from what they've grown up seeing.
"The craziest part about it is I think we're all like super-desensitized from like movies and stuff, so I saw it and I immediately just couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing," shared a student.
Prior to the shooting, a petition to “Prevent Charlie Kirk from speaking at Utah Valley University” circulated online. Created by an “anonymous contributor,” the petition said Kirk had become “known for his divisive rhetoric that often supports policies and laws which aren’t inclusive and can marginalize various communities.”
Students share what they saw before and after shooting of Charlie Kirk:
That platform is inconsistent, the petition argued, with Utah Valley University’s ideals of “inclusivity and diversity.”
The petition called on the university to reevaluate its decision to allow Kirk to speak, saying that “giving a platform to someone whose views are in direct opposition to these principles undermines UVU’s commitment to being ‘a place for you.’” A reconsideration, the petition said, would champion “a campus environment where every student feels welcome and represented.”
The petition had garnered nearly 1,000 supporters and more than 50 comments as of early Wednesday afternoon.
In those comments, many raised support for the petition, with one criticizing the campus for bringing what they described as an “alt-right influencer to a college campus” and another saying that “hosting him is despicable.”
During his comments at the briefing with local law enforcement officials, Gov. Cox shared his thoughts on what he believes to be the state of the country and a political divide that could have led to the shooting.
"Nothing I say can unite us as a country," he said. "Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken. Nothing I can say can bring back Charlie Kirk.
"Our hearts are broken."
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