MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk is dead. His organization confirmed on social media that he was shot and killed today at a college campus in Utah. President Trump has ordered flags to fly at half-staff. Kirk helped usher in an age of in-your-face, conservative politics, especially for young voters. Caroline Ballard, a reporter with member station KUER, is in Orem, Utah, on the campus at Utah Valley University, where the shooting happened. Hi, Caroline.
CAROLINE BALLARD, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Hey. So I know that a press conference that was organized very quickly on campus has now wrapped. Did we learn anything new?
BALLARD: Well, we heard from state, local and university police as well as an FBI representative and Utah Governor Spencer Cox. Governor Cox said there is now a, quote, "person of interest in custody" for the shooting - that's new - and that this is not the same person police initially detained as a suspect. A spokesman for police investigating the shooting said that the person that they initially took in was released after he did not match the suspect, but they said they have charged him with obstruction of justice. At the press conference, officials did not offer many details on who is in custody. Here's Governor Cox.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
SPENCER COX: Now, we have a person of interest in custody. The investigation is ongoing. But I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this - we will find you. We will try you. And we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law. And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah.
BALLARD: And I think it's notable that Governor Cox did call Kirk's death a, quote, "political assassination."
KELLY: Caroline, I can hear from a little bit of wind behind you that you are outside there on the campus at Utah Valley University. That is where Charlie Kirk was speaking outside today. Just recap for us what we know of what happened.
BALLARD: Right. So he was speaking outdoors on the campus of Utah Valley University. This is where he often goes to debate people who come up. About 20 minutes into his event - that was about 10 minutes after noon, local time - university officials say a shot rang out from a building about 200 yards from the speaker. And I'll just note as well that since we've been to the press conference and come outside here on the campus, they have already lowered the flags to half-staff.
KELLY: Now, I know that the political violence in this country sadly appears to be rampant. Can you give us a little bit of context? How common is it in Utah?
BALLARD: Sure. So in June, there was a fatal shooting at the No Kings protest here in Salt Lake City. That's the only fatality there was at one of the No Kings events nationwide. The person responsible for the killing was not arrested and has not been charged. He was a self-described peacekeeper at the event, and he shot at a man with a rifle and killed an innocent bystander. And in 2023, FBI agents shot and killed a man actually just down the road from Orem, in Provo, after he made some threats against President Biden. And Governor Cox has previously said his office has seen an increase in threats to public officials, and it's something he's worried about for a while.
KELLY: That is KUER's Caroline Ballard, reporting for us from the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed today. Thank you, Caroline.
BALLARD: Thank you, Mary Louise. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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