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Firsthand accounts: Audience members share experiences with Kirk shooting
Autumn Olsen | Lehi Free Press
On September 10, 2025, at 12 p.m., Utah Valley University students gathered in the school courtyard to attend the first stop of American political activist, internet personality and author Charlie Kirk’s tour: The American Comeback Tour. The event gathered an audience of roughly 3,000 people, including UVU students, local high school students, an assortment of adult attendees, and a group of individuals there to protest Kirk’s presence on campus.
“The energy was electric,” Cameron Curtis, a UVU student who was in attendance, said. “There were so many people there. I was shocked at how young the audience was.”
“Everyone was pretty excited, especially when Charlie first came out,” says Ethan Steveson, a senior at Maple Mountain High School, “he seemed like he was in his element.” When asked about the security and seating process, Steveson said, “We didn’t have to show our IDs to anyone. I had bought a ticket online, but there weren’t any checkpoints, so we basically just walked right in, and no one stopped us.”
The event began with the same program that Kirk’s previous appearances have followed in the past, including a ‘prove-me-wrong’ table where Kirk was stationed and a line of audience members who came prepared with topics to debate.
“I was a few minutes late to the event, and I remember while walking there feeling like the entire school was emptier. I didn’t realize how big this event had become until I arrived and saw that almost the entire school was there,” said Curtis.
Audience members began to debate with Kirk over only a fewtopics, including the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as a question about shootings in the United States performed by transgender individuals.
As most of us now know, at 12:23 p.m., as Kirk was responding to an audience member, he was struck in the neck with a single gunshot – leaving the audience in utter disbelief.
“The first thing that happened when the shot went off was everyone looked up and to the left, where it sounded like the shot went off. It took about three seconds for everyone to understand that a gun had been fired, which is when everyone looked at Charlie,” said Curtis.
“Everyone kind of just stood silent for a moment, not believing the timing of the topic and the gunshot. It felt like some weird joke,” said Steveson.
“Once everyone started seeing blood begin to soak Charlie’s shirt, people hit the floor. I remember ducking and watching everyone put their arms around each other to help each other duck,” said Curtis.
After a few moments of staying as low as possible, students began to evacuate the courtyard as quickly as possible, while Kirk’s security team rushed to his aid. Steveson recounts evacuating through the cement tunnels connected to the courtyard to the school parking lot. He said there were people around him sobbing and screaming as they fled.
“I was just truly in disbelief. I could not believe that I had just seen Kirk get shot and that it happened right in front of me. I know you hear about these things, but you never think you are going to be in the crowd or be that close when it actually happens,” said Steveson. “It felt almost invasive for that to happen on what was basically my back porch.”
Curtis described his point of view from the opposite side of the courtyard. “I was just flooded with thoughts of ‘leave, and call your wife.’ Even before I made it past the fountain I was leaning against, I had my phone in my hand, ready to call my family. I was waiting for more shots, but they never came. I remember looking back while I was running away to see if anyone else had gotten hit.”
“The moment the confusion really hit was when I ran into the school cafeteria and saw that everyone inside had blank stares, not knowing what had just happened. It didn’t feel real having to explain to nearby students what was going on.”
Curtis shared the sight of hundreds of students running into the roofed areas of campus via the cafeteria. He explains how he, along with a large group of students behind him, began making their way through the school buildings in hopes of accessing their vehicles.
“As soon as I arrived at the SLWC (Student Life Wellness Center), there were two UVU employees who had opened their office doors and began to funnel me and about 50-60 students into a back storage closet. They shut the doors as soon as the room was full. What happened outside of that room is beyond me,” Curtis said. “As much as I wanted to get home, all I knew was that there was a shooter at school. It seemed like there was some plan to keep students safe, and that felt more reliable to me than trying to reach my car on campus with everything else going on.”
When asked how much time had passed between the gunshot and being funneled into the storage closet, Curtis said, “Thirty seconds.”
The students began clearing tables and building barricades to put against the doors. “There came a moment where, even though the blinds were down, we could still see people walking outside who had no idea what was happening. It felt like a completely different world between those who were just in class versus the people who were at the event,” Curtis shared.
He said that once students had safely reached the storage closet and settled in, there were no updates on the status of the campus via the building intercom. The only updates he can confirm students received were text messages through UVU Alert and student emails.
He shared his experience of having to calmly inform those in the room with him what had happened, as many of them hadn’t been at the event. He said there were students in the room with him sobbing, having panic attacks, and some feeling intense claustrophobia in the small space. In the campus-wide chaos, all individuals on campus began attempting to contact their families, which created spotty cell phone service, leaving most students who were hiding with no way to update loved ones on their safety and whereabouts.
“We had a moment of silence where one person began to pray and everyone respected that, despite what beliefs they may have had,” Curtis shared.
Curtis shared that the staff let the group of students out of the closet about thirty minutes later, but they were still containedwithin the main office for about five more minutes. During this time, video footage of the shooting began to go viral, and a student confined to the office started sharing the video with nearby students. That person was quickly asked to cease sharing the video as it was beginning to cause further panic among the group huddled in the office.
When the students were finally released, Curtis recalls his final moments on campus, “I volunteered to drive some stranded students around me home, but when we made it to the parking lot it took us an additional hour even to be able to pull out of our parking spot because of how bad the traffic was,” he continues, “it took about two hours to get home after that. I’ve never seen more cop cars in my whole life.”
Steveson recalls the moment when his group of friends reached their car after the chaos subsided, “I just remember sitting there and not knowing what to do. I tried looking at my phone, and it just felt so weird that at that moment, there wasn’t even any breaking news or anything because it had just happened. It was so surreal, I just shut my phone off and looked out the window for the rest of the drive home.”
Kirk was quickly transported from Utah Valley University’s campus via SUV to the Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where he died from his injuries. His death gathered millions of responses around the world, turning what happened in the courtyard of UVU’s campus into global news. On September 12, less than 48 hours after the shooting, Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced that Charlie Kirk’s suspected shooter was in custody.
“Utah feels different. The whole world feels different, because you can hear about something like this happening, but you never think something like this could happen in a place that has felt so safe,” said Curtis
In the days following the shooting, the Utah Valley University presidency issued several statements assuring students and faculty members that proper action is being taken to ensure a safe return to campus when it reopened on September 15, 2025. The campus entry has become a makeshift shrine, adorned with American Flags and large floral arrangements to honor Charlie Kirk, including banners and posters reading, “Thank You, Charlie Kirk.” Or a phrase that is picking up internet speed: “We are all Charlie Kirk.”
“This is something that I am never going to forget,” recalled Steveson. “It is just incredible to me that one person could have so much hate for someone else for their opinions that they’d be willing to kill them for it.”
When asked about the return to campus, Curtis said, “I am anxious to get back to campus in a few days and see what the healing process is like in the place where it happened. It will be hard to go back, but I know that eventually things will be okay and UVU will heal, albeit with a scar.”
“There is so much love and care when these things happen. There was a collective acknowledgement through social media and personal messages of what we were all going through. There was and continues to be a downpour of support for me, and for the students of UVU.”
