US: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot dead in Utah university

Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of United States President Donald Trump, was shot dead on Wednesday at an event in a college in Utah, AP reported.

The shooting took place when the 31-year-old co-founder and CEO of the youth organisation Turning Point USA was speaking during a debate at the Sorensen Center courtyard at Utah Valley University.

The debate was hosted by his organisation.

No arrests have been made yet and the motive of the shooting remains unknown.

Videos circulating on social media showed Kirk taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence while sitting under a white tent immediately before he was shot.

The shooter allegedly wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away, AP reported.

Earlier in the day, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel said that one person had been held for the incident. “The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody,” Patel said on social media.

However, he later said that the person was released after being questioned.

Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, said: “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He...

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