Charlie Kirk Shooting Site

Author: Jewls Krueger

On the afternoon of September 10, 2025, 31 year old conservative political activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at an outdoor campus debate at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was struck in the neck by a single bullet fired from the roof of a campus building roughly 142 yards away.

The killing of one of the most prominent voices in the modern Republican Party shocked the country and reignited a national conversation about political violence. A 33 hour manhunt ended with the surrender of a 22 year old Utah man named Tyler James Robinson, who has since been charged with aggravated murder and faces the death penalty.

Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk in July of 2025 - Creative Commons: Gage Skidmore

Charles James Kirk was born October 14, 1993 in Arlington Heights, Illinois and grew up in the nearby Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights. His father was an architect and his mother a former trader and later mental health counselor. Both were active in Republican politics, and Kirk became deeply interested in conservative ideology from a young age. After graduating from Wheeling High School in 2012, he briefly attended Harper College before dropping out.

In June 2012, just months after graduating high school, the 18 year old Kirk co-founded the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA with Tea Party activist Bill Montgomery. Over the next decade, he built the group into the largest conservative youth organization in the country, with chapters at more than 3,000 high schools and colleges nationwide. By the time of his death, he hosted the nationally syndicated The Charlie Kirk Show, was one of the youngest speakers ever at a Republican National Convention, and was widely credited with helping push J.D. Vance onto the 2024 Republican ticket as Donald Trump's running mate. He was married to Erika Kirk and had two young children.

The Shooting

The booth where Charlie Kirk was shot - Creative Commons: KSL News Utah

On September 10, 2025, Kirk was the headline speaker at the opening stop of Turning Point USA's "American Comeback Tour" at Utah Valley University in Orem. About 3,000 attendees gathered in the Sorensen Center courtyard to watch him take questions from students under a "Prove Me Wrong" tent.

Roughly 20 minutes into the event, just after Kirk had been asked about mass shootings in the United States, a single shot rang out at 12:23 p.m. local time. The bullet struck Kirk in the neck. Six members of his entourage carried him to a waiting SUV that rushed him to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem. He was pronounced dead a short time later. Donald Trump announced his death on Truth Social at 2:40 p.m.

Investigators quickly determined the shot had come from the roof of the Losee Center, a building approximately 142 yards north of the courtyard. Witnesses captured cell phone video of a figure dressed in black running across the rooftop and dropping to the ground. The shooter fled into the surrounding neighborhood. A Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle, wrapped in a dark towel, was later recovered from a wooded area just off campus. The fired and unfired cartridges had been engraved with phrases drawn from internet memes, video games, and an Italian anti-fascist song.

Tyler James Robinson

Tyler Robinson a few hours after the shooting - Public Domain

After a 33 hour manhunt, 22 year old Tyler James Robinson of Washington, Utah surrendered at the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Hurricane, Utah on the evening of September 11, 2025. His father had recognized him in surveillance photos released by the FBI and confronted him at the family home. Robinson allegedly admitted to his parents that he was the shooter and said he could not go to jail.

Robinson is a third year student in an electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College and lived in St. George, Utah, about a three and a half hour drive from the Utah Valley University campus. According to investigators, he had told a family member at a recent dinner that Kirk was "full of hate." Discord messages he sent to his roommate referenced retrieving the rifle from a drop point in the woods and a handwritten note he left under his keyboard read, "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it."

On September 16, 2025, the Utah County Attorney's Office charged Robinson with seven counts, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. Prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty. Robinson made his first in-person court appearance on December 11, 2025. The preliminary hearing is currently underway.

The Shooting Site Today

Memorial at Utah Valley University - Creative Commons: Bobjgalindo

Utah Valley University is the largest public university in Utah, with about 40,000 students, located in Orem along Interstate 15 roughly 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. The campus reopened on September 17, 2025, one week after the shooting. A large mural and informal memorial was placed near the shooting site at the Sorensen Center courtyard, where mourners left flowers, candles, photos, and handwritten notes. Candlelight vigils for Kirk were held in dozens of cities across the United States and around the world. President Trump announced he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.

Utah Valley University is open to the public during daylight hours. Please be respectful of students, faculty, and staff during your visit, follow all posted signage and university policies, and remember that this remains a place of trauma for many in the campus community.