OREM, Utah — Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in an act that drew renewed attention to the threat of political violence across the United States.

The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.”

“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.

The suspected shooter has not been arrested, Orem, Utah, Mayor David Young said. A person who was taken into custody by law enforcement at the university where Kirk was speaking was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.

“We are confirming that he was shot and we are praying for Charlie,” said Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point USA.

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience members asked. Kirk responded: “Too many.”

The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.

Then a single shot rang out.

The event had been met with divided opinions on campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

Trump and a host of Republican and Democratic elected officials decried the shooting and offered prayers for Kirk on social media.

“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States across all parts of the ideological spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.

Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.

“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.

He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.

“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”

Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.

But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.

Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.

Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.

Elected officials react to the shooting

— Vice President JD Vance: “Dear God, protect Charlie in his darkest hour.”

— Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: “Political violence must be always and totally rejected,” Buttigieg wrote on X. “Praying for him and all who may have been injured or impacted.”

— Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker: “The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying. Political violence has no place in this country and should never become the norm. I’m sending my sympathies to his family and friends at this time.”

— Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper: “Violence is unacceptable. I strongly condemn the attack on Charlie Kirk and political violence in all forms. I’m praying for his swift recovery.”

— New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani: “I’m horrified by the shooting of Charlie Kirk at a college event in Utah. Political violence has no place in our country.”

— North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein: “We can never tolerate or become numb to political violence. Our nation is weaker when people are afraid to share their opinions or disagree. Please join Anna and me in praying for Charlie Kirk’s recovery.”

— Maryland Gov. Wes Moore: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack on Charlie Kirk this afternoon at Utah Valley University. As I have said in the past and as I will continue to say: Political violence is never acceptable. Ever.”

— Maryland Rep. Andy Harries described Kirk as “an American patriot.”

— Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called the shooting “senseless violence.”

Utah Valley University is the state’s largest public university

With nearly 47,000 students, Utah Valley University has grown to become the largest public university in Utah.

It’s located about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, the state capital, and was founded in 1941 as a vocation school. From those beginnings, its enrollment has jumped five-fold over the past three decades.

The college is not affiliated or owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church.

Bipartisan rejections of political violence continue

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, called the shooting “chilling & horrific” in an X post.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, another Democrat and potential national candidate, said, “We must speak with moral clarity. The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying and this growing type of unconscionable violence cannot be allowed in our society.”

Republican Senate Leader John Thune of South Dakota posted: “There is no place in our country for political violence. Period, full stop.”

Giffords, a former U.S. representative for Arizona who suffered a serious brain injury when she was shot in 2011, posted on X about the attack on Kirk.

“I’m horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah,” she wrote Wednesday.

“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence.”

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point USA

The event at Utah Valley University had been met with divided opinions on campus.

An online petition urging university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures.

The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI is “closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk.”

Vice President JD Vance also called for prayers, calling Charlie Kirk “a genuinely good guy and a young father.”

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Pam Bondi, and House Speaker Mike Johnson joined the chorus of Trump officials offering their prayers to Kirk.

Support also came from across the aisle.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the shooting “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation.”

Former Utah congressman says Kirk had some security but not enough

Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said told Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.

“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.

He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.

“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”

Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael Biesecker and Brian Slodysko in Washington contributed to this report.