Charlie Kirk is dead after being shot at a Utah college event. What we know

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk died Sept. 10 from a gunshot wound sustained at a Utah Valley University event. He was 31.

A manhunt for the shooting suspect, believed to have fired from a roof on campus, continued early Sept. 11. Authorities questioned and released two people.  

Kirk founded Turning Point USA, a conservative organization focused on young people, and was close to President Donald Trump and his eldest son Donald Trump Jr. His organization says it sponsors student groups on about 1,800 college and high school campuses across the country.

The president praised Kirk’s understanding of young people in a social media post announcing his death. Trump followed it up with a four-minute video filmed at the Resolute Desk of the Oval Office, blaming left-wing violence and rhetoric. 

"An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed, because together, we will ensure that his voice, his message and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come," Trump said in the Sept. 10 video.

CNN reported that Turning Point USA announced Kirk’s death in a note to employees: "It’s with a heavy heart that we, the Turning Point USA leadership team, write to notify you that early this afternoon, Charlie went to his eternal reward with Jesus Christ in Heaven."

At the time of the shooting, Kirk was seated under a tent facing the outdoor amphitheatre crowd and answering a question about violence by transgender people from a member of the audience. "Prove Me Wrong" is a recurring segment of Kirk’s university tour. 

Here’s what happened, based on video circulating of the event:

Questioner: "Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?"

Kirk: "Too many."

(Applause.)

Questioner: "Five is a lot, right? I’m gonna give you, I’m gonna give you some credit. Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?"

Kirk: "Counting or not counting gang violence?"

(Gunshot)

Some people took that information and speculated about the shooter’s gender identity, although no suspect had been apprehended, or even named, in the immediate aftermath.

PolitiFact covered whether incidents of mass shootings committed by trans people are statistically significant following rhetoric about the shooter in the Aug. 27 Annunciation Catholic School Mass in Minneapolis. (Read more on that further down.)

Kirk was a top commentator on social media and conservative media, authoring books, publishing a daily podcast and amassing almost 30 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube. His stature garnered profiles in The New York Times Magazine in February and The Deseret News just days before he was killed. 

PolitiFact fact-checked 17 of Kirk’s comments on the Truth-O-Meter going back to 2019, covering his skepticism of COVID-19 vaccines, climate change, Ivy League universities and election integrity. He talked about home ownership in a 2024 Republican National Convention speech.

Kirk started Turning Point USA in 2012 when he was 18 years old. The nonprofit reported $85 million in revenue in its June 2024 tax filing, up from $443,859 a decade prior, according to ProPublica. Kirk also heads a political advocacy fundraising nonprofit, Turning Point Action, that brought in over $10 million in 2023. 

Kirk was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago but relocated to Arizona in 2018. TPUSA is also headquartered in Phoenix.

We will continue to cover this breaking story. Send ideas for statements to examine to [email protected].

We updated this story with new information Sept. 11.