Charlie Kirk talked about shootings moments before he was killed, eyewitness says

An eyewitness to Wednesday’s killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah said Kirk was talking about gun violence when he was shot.

Hunter Brown, a 24-year-old junior at Utah Valley University in Orem, was about 10 feet from the stage where Kirk was speaking before an audience at the campus. He said Kirk was talking about shootings by transgender people in response to an audience member’s question when a single gunshot rang out.

“He said there were too many shootings [by transgender people],” Brown said in an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune. “Then the pop went off.”

Two weeks ago, a shooter opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, killing two and injuring 21. Robin Westman, who authorities say died by suicide after carrying out the shootings, had changed her gender designation to female on legal documents in 2020.

Brown said he heard only one shot at Kirk’s event and wasn’t sure where it came from.

“It was definitely murder, it was 100 percent targeted at [Kirk],” he said. “It was directed at him.”

Brown said Kirk was shot in the neck and fell behind a table on the stage.

After Kirk was hit, Brown and the people around him got down and Brown put his backpack over his head, trapped in the crowd while others fled. After about 30 seconds, Brown said, he ran. By then, Kirk was no longer on the stage.

Brown had made the decision to attend the event before his afternoon film class. Utah Valley University is open to the public, and Brown said he did not pass through security for the event.

Kirk was slated to speak in Minneapolis on Sept. 22 as part of his “American Comeback” tour. Utah was the first stop on the tour.

The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States across the ideological spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand that Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. Most notoriously, President Donald Trump was shot during a campaign rally last year.