Charlie Kirk killed while launching Turning Point USA campus tour

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while kicking off the organization’s fall tour of college campuses.

“The American Comeback Tour” was in the middle of its first event, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, when Kirk suffered what turned out to be a deadly gunshot wound. It was supposed to be the first of 15 dates going from Sept. 10 to Oct. 29, spanning nine states with more events that were “to be announced soon,” its website states. 

Kirk was taken to a hospital from campus, with President Donald Trump later posting on Truth Social that he had died. A source told Fox News that a suspect was still on the loose.

Law enforcement tapes off an area after Charlie Kirk was shot at the Utah Valley University, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

“The American comeback is powerful and real, and it’s sweeping the nation,” Kirk said in a February statement. “However, one of the last strongholds of far-left, increasingly insane and out-of-touch ideologues is found inside the formerly hallowed halls of higher education. We have many of these purveyors of anti-American indoctrination on the run, but when they regroup, they will do so from inside the academy. So we will take the fight to them.”

Charlie Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, Sept. 10, 2025. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via Reuters)

Kirk also had been slated to host a four-day annual “AmericaFest” conference in December in Phoenix, Arizona.