Right-wing activist fatally shot during college speech

Influential right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has died at the age of 31 after being shot in the neck during a Utah college campus speaking event. Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump and the face of right-wing campus activism, was fatally shot while speaking to a crowd of Utah Valley University students, an attack that officials have labeled a “political assassination”.

- ALEX WOODWARD

He was roughly 20 minutes into a Q&A session in front of 3,000 people before the crack of a single loud rifle shot sent the crowd into panic.

The Turning Point USA founder was bleeding profusely from his neck before collapsing within seconds. Mr Trump later announced Kirk's death in a Truth Social post.

“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” wrote Mr Trump, who announced Kirk’s death before it was confirmed by his family, law enforcement or Turning Point USA.

“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump added. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”

Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika Lane Frantzve, and their two children. Turning Point, the organisation that Kirk founded as a teenager, confirmed his death.