'I was in total shock': Witnesses to fatal Charlie Kirk shooting recount gruesome scene
As Charlie Kirk was taking a question about gun violence in America, a single shot rang out and panic surged through the university crowd huddled around the conservative commentator. When witnesses looked to where Kirk had been seated at the outdoor event at Utah Valley University, they said he was lying motionless on the ground, blood gushing from a wound to his neck.
Witnesses could be heard on a video that captured 31-year-old Kirk being shot, shouting "Oh my God" and "run," as people in the crowd on Wednesday began to flee from where Kirk was lying under a tent emblazoned with the words "American Comeback."
"Blood was gushing everywhere," witness Sara Tewell, a student at Utah Valley University in Orem near Provo, told ABC News. "A friend and I ran into a building and ran out and down the street just trying to get to safety."
Tewell said she was sitting in the fourth row of the event, a little to the left of where Kirk was speaking, when the deadly shot appeared to come from a distance she estimated to be 200 yards away and to her left.
President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform that Kirk had died.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox described the shooting as a "political assassination."
Tewell and several other witnesses said security for the event was lacking. She said there were no metal detectors that people attending the free event on the UVU campus had to pass through, and there was no one inspecting bags.
UVU Police Chief Jeff Long said six officers were working the event, including some plainclothes officers in the crowd, which he estimated to be about 3,000 people.
Henry Dels, a 24-year-old businessman from the area, told ABC News that he was about 25 feet from Kirk, who had just finished answering a question he asked about religion. He said that less than 60 seconds after his exchange with Kirk, the commentator was shot.
"It happened less than a minute after I was talking to him," Dels said. "It seemed like a waterfall of blood was gushing out of him, it was gushing out of his neck and running down his shoulder and onto his left pec. I immediately knew he was going to die."
Danielle, a student at Brigham Young University who attended the event, which Kirk dubbed "The American Comeback Tour," told ABC News' Salt Lake City affiliate station KTVX that she was close to where Kirk was speaking when he was shot.
"You just see his neck just, like, open up and there's just, like, so much blood that just came out. I was 15 feet away, and it was really hard to witness," Danielle said.
Danielle recounted hearing screaming and people running in the chaotic aftermath of the shooting.
"I'm Iike, it's not safe to run. It's not safe to get up," Danielle said, adding that she started to pray, "Please, God, please God, please God, because I don't want to die."
"I don't want anybody else to die," Danielle said. "And I, I think I just saw a guy die."
UVU student Luke Pitman, who also witnessed the shooting, told KTVX, "I was in total shock."
"We all heard a shooting, like a big bang," Pitman said. "We thought it was confetti. Then, everyone started ducking down. And then, I look over at Charlie Kirk and I see blood coming from his neck."
Chris Hughes, a reporter for the UVU student newspaper, said Kirk, CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was talking about gun violence when he was shot.
In an emotional interview with Fox News, Former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz said he was watching Kirk speak at the event when the single shot rang out. Chaffetz, a Fox News host, said Kirk was shot about 30 minutes into his presentation while answering a question about transgender shooters and mass killings.
Chaffetz said that before the shooting, people in the crowd had been chanting Kirk's name.
"A lot of people were chanting his name. I was there. My daughter was there. My wife was there. I mean, Charlie Kirk is coming to town. We were excited. And people were there," Chaffetz said. "And there were lots of them. You know, he came out, he was throwing hats. Riling up the crowd."
Chaffetz added, "I can't say that I saw blood. I can't say that I saw him get hit, but I did see him fall immediately backwards to his left. And I can just hope and pray that somehow he survives that," Chaffetz said.
Witness Nathalie Herrey, who was at the event with her daughter, told ABC News that she was standing about five yards from Kirk and that the crowd on hand "was so excited to see him."
She said that as Kirk was answering his second question, she heard a loud "pop."
"The pop came and he [Kirk] touched his neck and he fell down to his side," Herrey said.
Witness Jeremy King said he was standing close to Kirk when the shooting happened.
"Right after the shot, I looked at his [Kirk's] face, and it was just lights out. His eyes were closed, and he fell back. He did not move," King said.
