An independent review has found multiple security shortcomings at Utah Valley University in the lead-up to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, concluding that the campus and event planners failed to properly assess the risks of a high-profile outdoor appearance that drew thousands of people.
The report, released by the university, says UVU did not carry out a proper written security assessment or prepare an event action plan, instead deferring key decisions to Kirk's organization, Turning Point USA. It also says Kirk's aides insisted on using an outdoor venue despite warnings from campus officials, who had raised concerns about the location's exposure and the surrounding tall buildings.
Kirk, 31, was addressing a large crowd in a courtyard at the Orem, Utah, campus on 10 September 2025 when he was shot from a nearby rooftop. He was rushed to hospital but later pronounced dead. The killing stunned supporters and critics alike, and quickly became a flashpoint in the broader national debate over political violence, campus security and the safety of public figures.
According to the review, university officials had already flagged concerns in August 2025 about holding the event in a space surrounded by tall buildings and suggested alternative venues, including indoor options. But, the report says, a Turning Point representative insisted that Kirk speak in the courtyard because he had appeared there before and the organization was familiar with the site.
The consultants who conducted the review said that despite the "significant protective operations considerations," no line-of-sight assessment was documented during planning. They also found shortcomings in coordination between university police and Kirk's private security team. A proposed meeting between the university's police chief and Turning Point security shortly before the event never took place, the report said.
The absence of a joint security briefing and walk-through, the reviewers wrote, was a missed opportunity to identify risks, clarify responsibilities and consider additional protective measures. The report suggests that basic planning steps commonly used for major public events were either incomplete or absent, leaving critical vulnerabilities unaddressed.
At the same time, the review stopped short of accusing university personnel of deliberate misconduct. It concluded that no university employee or representative acted in bad faith or showed "willful and wanton disregard" for anyone's safety. That finding may matter in any future legal proceedings, but it has done little to ease the anger of Kirk's family, who have already accused the university of serious security failures and filed a wrongful-death notice, a step that can precede a lawsuit.
The family's lawyer, Brett Parkinson, said the report validated their concerns. "The buck stopped with UVU leadership and law enforcement," he said in a statement to The Associated Press. "Justice for Charlie and his family requires true accountability for UVU's fatal shortcomings that day." Turning Point USA, when asked to comment on the findings, referred to Parkinson's statement.
UVU President Jon Anderson said the university must "learn from the findings of this review, and follow through on its recommendations." The report includes numerous recommendations aimed at improving security for major campus events, underscoring how a single failure in planning can cascade into tragedy when a prominent political figure is involved.
The review also echoes earlier reporting that campus police did not carry out security procedures commonly used at high-profile U.S. events, including flying a drone to monitor rooftops or using screening measures such as bag checks and metal detectors. Those omissions, combined with the lack of a coordinated security plan, are now central to questions about how the event was allowed to proceed in the form it did.
Kirk had been debating UVU students about U.S. mass shootings as part of a series of campus events when he was killed shortly after noon. His alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder in connection with the shooting.
For Kirk's supporters, the report is likely to deepen the sense that the death was preventable. For the university, it is a stark accounting of how planning failures, communication breakdowns and disputed decisions about venue and security converged in the hours before a killing that has reverberated far beyond the Utah campus.