Utah Valley University has released a 158-page independent review examining the events surrounding the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed during a public speaking appearance in the campus’s central courtyard last year.
The Lake Forest Group conducted the review at the university’s request. Its 10 “key findings” are intended to strengthen security at future events. The report concluded that no one at UVU acted “in bad faith or in willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others.”
The investigators found, however, that UVU applied its own policies “significantly inconsistently.” They also determined that security measures were inadequate for a high-profile outdoor gathering and that no member of the university police department had been assigned to monitor campus security cameras.
Charlie Kirk appears at Utah Valley University Sept. 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
The reviewers also called for a reassessment of staffing levels and training to reflect the university’s size and the potential risks associated with major events.
The report noted that universities have developed systems to identify and prevent internal threats since the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. Those safeguards did not apply in Kirk’s case, investigators said, because the man accused of killing him, Tyler Robinson, had no connection to UVU.
The review also assembled a timeline of major developments leading up to Kirk’s appearance at UVU, spanning July 10 through Sept. 9, 2025. It identified several “key decision points” beginning Aug. 25 and continuing through the day Kirk was killed, Sept. 10.
The scene after shots were fired at an appearance by Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
On Aug. 25, UVU officials had concerns about their ability to secure the outdoor courtyard, yet the location remained the planned venue, according to the review. The event was approved two days later without a documented security assessment plan. University police and TPUSA security held their “first direct security coordination” on Sept. 3, one week before the event.
On Sept. 8, TPUSA organizers voiced concerns about access to rooftops overlooking the area where Kirk was scheduled to speak. The report says UVU Police Chief Jeffrey Long texted TPUSA security supervisor Dan Flood, “We got you covered.” Investigators said the message referred to the Hall of Flags outdoor pedestrian walkway.
Flood came to campus in person with the TPUSA security team on Sept. 10.
Law enforcement tapes off an area after Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot at the Utah Valley University, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
“Dan Flood, TPUSA Security Supervisor, texted Chief Long advising that TPUSA security personnel had arrived on campus,” the report states. “Chief Long engaged in a series of text communications with Flood, to include several regarding individuals located on the Hall of Flags outdoor pedestrian walkway and the Fountain Courtyard area where a canopy would be set up where Kirk would be speaking. These text exchanges revealed the primary security focus for TPUSA was the Hall of Flags outdoor pedestrian walkway above the canopy.”
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That description differs from the Kirk family’s notice of claim against UVU, filed last week. The family’s filing identified the Sorensen Center rooftop—not the Hall of Flags walkway—as an area of concern.
The Hall of Flags walkway was closed during the event, but the review found that TPUSA security personnel never held an in-person meeting with university police.
Prosecutors allege that Robinson ultimately climbed onto the Losee Center, northeast of the courtyard, and fired the shot that killed Kirk.
The Hall of Flags walkway sits directly above the area where Kirk was speaking. The Sorenson Center is north of the courtyard, while the Losee Center is northeast of it.
A map of the UVU campus shows key locations surrounding the courtyard where Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on Sept. 10, 2025. (After-Action report for Utah Valley University)
“This report reaffirms the facts we laid out in our Notice of Claim: that UVU security was woefully understaffed and unprepared to manage the obvious risks associated with an event of this nature,” Kirk family attorney Brett Parkinson said in a statement to News Media Friday. “UVU hosted this event, and in doing so, assumed responsibility for the safety of all in attendance, including Charlie.”
As the family alleged in its filing last week, University Police Chief Jeffrey Long allegedly told Turning Point USA organizers, “I got you covered,” after they raised concerns about rooftop access above the courtyard where Kirk was later shot and killed by a sniper.
Sgt. Jennifer Faumuina, of the Utah Department of Public Safety, motions toward a map of the Utah Valley University campus during a preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, at the Fourth District Courthouse in Provo, Utah, Thursday, July 9, 2026 (Spenser Heaps/AP via Pool)
“The buck stopped with UVU leadership and law enforcement,” Parkinson said. “Justice for Charlie and his family requires true accountability for UVU’s fatal shortcomings that day.”
A university spokesperson told Fox News that the school has no further comment beyond a statement released on behalf of UVU President Dr. Jon Anderson.
Tyler Robinson, accused of the murder of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Thursday, December, 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via Pool)
“September 10 will always be part of UVU’s history, but it will not define our future,” he said. “Our responsibility is to care for our community, learn from the findings of this review, and follow through on its recommendations. This requires humility, an honest examination of our policies and practices, and a commitment to act on what we learn.”