Witnesses at the rally where political activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot yesterday, September 10, have claimed that security at the event failed.
Kirk, 31, was speaking at an event at Utah Valley University as part of his American Comeback tour. He was in the middle of answering a question regarding shootings in the US when a single gunshot rang out and he was hit in the neck by the bullet.
Given Kirk’s relative fame and history of generating viral clips through the debates commonly occurring at his talks, it was hardly surprising that a good many event goers were filming with their mobile phones at the moment when the shot – believed to have come from the rooftop of a nearby building – was fired.
Said videos immediately made their way to social media, with a number of them doing rounds before the mainstream media had time to properly report on the incident.
Rooftop suspect
At the time of writing, the shooter has not been apprehended by authorities. Police arrested two suspects, but later released them.
TMZ claim to have uncovered haunting dispatch audio from the shooting, during which responders can be heard briefing their counterparts over the radio. They first report that an individual has been shot at Utah Valley University, adding that the shooter’s location is not known.
Later on in the audio, dispatch personnel speak about a person being located on the top of a building east of the school’s library. They don’t reveal who the person is in the audio, social media footage that has since hit the internet seems to show an individual standing on the roof of a nearby building.
Responders say the person is wearing jeans, a black shirt and a black vest.
Lax security
According to RadarOnline.com, witnesses at the event claim that security there was lax. One individual, Tyler McGettigan, told NBC News that he did not have to pass through any sort of security on the way in.
He added that though he had printed out a ticket, he was not asked to show it to gain entry.
“No one checked the barcode or the QR code,” he said. “There was no checkpoint to get in. It was literally, anyone could walk in if they wanted.”
Justin Hickens, another attendee, revealed there were no metal detectors posted outside the event, with a third person saying there were “no checkpoints, nothing, to get in here.”
Afton Miller, a member of Turning Point USA, the organization Charlie Kirk cofounded in 2012, confirmed that there didn’t appear to be “a whole lot of security.”
Miller told how she and friend “just walk in,” and what appeared to be a school official told them, “go find a seat, first-come, first-served basis.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, FBI Director Kash Patel told the media that the person responsible for the shooting was in custody.
“The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody,” Patel wrote on X. “Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with the FBI.”
That now appears to have been false information, with a manhunt underway to identify and locate the assailant.
Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk.
