Share
11th September 2025
01:21am BST
A person had been held in custody over the Charlie Kirk shooting, but has now been released, the FBI has said.
Charlie Kirk died after he was shot in the neck during an event at a Utah university.
Shots were fired at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem where the 31-year-old was speaking.
CNN reported that Kirk was answering a question about transgender mass shooters in America.
At 12:25 local time, a “single shot rang out in the quad near the food court on the Utah Valley University Orem Campus as Mr. Charlie Kirk began speaking at his planned rally,” Scott Trotter, senior director of Public Relations at Utah Valley University in Orem, told the BBC.
It was later confirmed that Kirk had died following his injuries.
Director of the FBI, Kash Patel, initially said that the person responsible for the shooting had been taken into custody.
Taking to X, he wrote: "The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody. Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with the FBI.
"We will provide updates when able."
Now, he has said that the person has been released in a newer post on X.
It had initially been reported by the Utah Valley University Police that a person had been taken into custody shortly after the shooting, however, it was later confirmed this person was not the shooter.
The news of Kirk's death was announced by Donald Trump who took to Truth Social to confirm the news.
The US president said: "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.
"He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!"
Video footage circulating online shows the moment of the shooting. Kirk can be seen under a white ten emblazoned with the words “THE AMERICAN COMEBACK” and “PROVE ME WRONG”, surrounded by students.
A fervent Trump supporter, Kirk was best known for founding Turning Point USA which seeks to spread conservative ideas to students on US campuses. With millions of followers, he was one of the biggest conservative influencers in the US.
