Utah Valley University has published a 158-page independent review examining the events that led to the fatal shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on campus last year. Kirk was killed during a public appearance in the university’s central courtyard.
The investigation was carried out by the Lake Forest Group at the university’s request. It outlined 10 “key findings” intended to strengthen security at future events and determined that no UVU employee acted “in bad faith or in willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others.”
Still, the review found serious shortcomings. UVU’s own security policies were applied “significantly inconsistently,” the security plan was inadequate for a large, high-profile outdoor gathering, and no member of the university police department had been specifically assigned to watch campus surveillance cameras.
Charlie Kirk appears at Utah Valley University Sept. 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking on his American Comeback Tour when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
Investigators also called for a reassessment of police staffing and training to reflect the university’s size, event schedule and potential security threats.
The report noted that colleges and universities have developed procedures to detect and prevent threats from within their communities since the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. Those safeguards, however, did not apply in this case because the man accused of killing Kirk, Tyler Robinson, had no known connection to UVU.
Reviewers also assembled a chronology of the preparations for Kirk’s appearance, covering the period from July 10 through Sept. 9, 2025. They highlighted several “key decision points” beginning Aug. 25 and continuing through the day Kirk was killed, Sept. 10.
The view after shots were fired at an appearance by Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking on his American Comeback Tour when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
On Aug. 25, university officials kept the outdoor courtyard as the venue even though they had expressed doubts about whether the space could be adequately controlled. The event received approval two days later, but the review found no documented security assessment plan at the time. UVU police and Turning Point USA security did not hold their first direct coordination until Sept. 3, just one week before the appearance.
On Sept. 8, TPUSA organizers voiced concerns about access to rooftops overlooking the area where Kirk was scheduled to speak. According to the report, UVU Police Chief Jeffrey Long texted TPUSA security supervisor Dan Flood, “We got you covered.” Investigators said Long’s message referred to the Hall of Flags outdoor pedestrian walkway rather than all elevated locations near the event.
Flood came to the university in person on Sept. 10 alongside the TPUSA security team.
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 Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
The review said Flood notified Chief Long by text that TPUSA security personnel had arrived. Long and Flood then exchanged messages about people in the Hall of Flags walkway and in Fountain Courtyard, where a canopy had been erected for Kirk’s speech. Those conversations indicated that TPUSA’s main security attention was directed toward the walkway above the canopy, according to the report.
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 a location that had raised security concerns.
The Hall of Flags walkway was shut down during the event, but the review found that TPUSA security personnel never met face-to-face with university police before the shooting.
Prosecutors allege that Robinson ultimately climbed onto the Losee Center, a building northeast of the courtyard, and fired the shot that killed Kirk.
The Hall of Flags walkway sits directly above the location where Kirk spoke. The Sorenson Center is north of the courtyard, while the Losee Center is positioned to the northeast.
A map of the UVU campus shows key locations surrounding the courtyard where Charlie Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10, 2025. (After-Action report for Utah Valley University)
Brett Parkinson, an attorney for the Kirk family, said the findings supported the claims made in the family’s notice of claim against UVU. In a statement to News Media on Friday, he said the university’s security operation was “woefully understaffed and unprepared” for the foreseeable dangers posed by the event.
“UVU hosted this event, and in doing so, assumed responsibility for the safety of all in attendance, including Charlie,” Parkinson said.
As the family alleged last week, University Police Chief Jeffrey Long allegedly told Turning Point USA organizers that “I got you covered” when they raised concerns about rooftop access above the courtyard where Kirk was ultimately 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, 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 the school has no further comment beyond a statement released on behalf of UVU President Jon Anderson.
Tyler Robinson, accused of the murder of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Dec. 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.”