September 10, 2025 • 8 mins
Charlie Kirk is fatally shot while speaking to students at Utah Valley University. Eyewitnesses describe chaos as the crowd realized what happened. Crime Stories Investigative Reporter Dave Mack, Joseph Scott Morgan, professor at Jacksonville State University, and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns Investigate.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
In a shocking turn of events, Charlie Kirk is dead.
The conservative fire brand was speaking to students at Utah
Valley University in Orum, Utah when a shot rang out.
Horrific footage of the incident shared on social media within
minutes showed Charlie Kirk's neck violently snapping back after the
(00:25):
shot rang out, and now the announcement from turning Point,
Charlie Kirk is dead at Utah University in an explosive
event that was being held for students and conservatives on campus.
As Charlie Kirk is welcoming everybody there with a quick
Q and a one shot rings out and it hits
(00:47):
him in the neck. Joseph Scott Morgan, I have to
ask you. You've seen the video. You've seen the shot
that appears to hit Charlie Kirk, and it looked I
saw the front of his shirt bunch up a little bit,
and I saw his arms go out. It reminded me
of jfk in Dallas. What are we looking at right
now with the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Estimates are that this shot took place at almost a
range of approximating two hundred yards away, so that means
that someone would have had to have gone to the
trouble of zeroing a weapon. I imagine this is a
long arm and probably scoped at a two hundred yard range,
and it was all witnesses are reporting that all they
(01:30):
heard was a single shot that was fired, and the
fact that it was the target area is such a
small area that gives you an idea of the precision.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Kenda Crowns.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Have you had a chance to see the video of
the actual shooting, yet, all.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
I've heard is a descriptions so far that he, like
you just said, he reached up to his neck and
blood was starting to gush out of his neck. So
that to me means some pretty vital structures are hit.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Okay, now, that's what I was kind of after, and
I appreciate you saying that, because that's my question right now. Guys,
a shot to the neck, there's a lot going in there.
And Joe, I know you and I've had talks about
this in the past about what happens in c when
you're in the cervical area of the neck. It's referred
to as C C one through what C seven and
(02:17):
when you're down CE five and below, you can survive
that a lot of the time, depending on where exactly
you hit. But above C five that's not survivable, is
that right?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
You know, your your chances are getting slimmer and slimmer
the further up you you travel up the spinal column.
And one of the things that really stood out to
me is this drawing of the arms up with the
clinching of the thumbs, which you know many times I
think that anybody that watches NFL football or college football,
you see these these players that have concussions that have
(02:54):
neuro problems as a result of getting their cage rattle,
that sort of thing. You know, again, we don't have
definitive diagnostic evidence of this, but you know, you just
visualizing this, you kind of get a sense that something
neurologically is going on here. And he shot in the neck.
I mean, let's face it, you know, we don't know
how extensive that is.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, Charlie Cooks, he's a young man. He's thirty two
years old.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
He started turning point back in twenty eleven, I believe,
so he's been after this since he was a very
young man. He's married, he's got a couple of children,
and I think the thing that gets me the most
is that Charlie Kirk is going on college campuses, and
right before this happened, he was. He actually posted a
video on x of him throwing out hats, turning point
(03:38):
hats and the crowd was going crazy. But it was
set up so that there was one group of people
that was up close, then there was like a break
of people like an aisleway, and then another group of
people behind that. There is security all around, and he
was under a tent where he was actually beginning to speak.
And as I said, this is before he actually begins
(03:59):
his actual speech.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
He's actually doing a quick Q and A. It's about
two minutes in when the shot was fired.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
You saw the shot, You saw his I saw his
shirt puff out.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
That's what I saw in that video. Did you guys
see the same thing?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Joe?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well, for me, my focus really wasn't on the shirt,
on the shirt itself, It was literally watching his hands
and seeing his response. He kind of listened to his
left and fell out of the chair and it was
it was really quick. The movement of shirt would not
surprise me because there's kind of a concussive element that
comes along with the round striking many times, and that.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Part you've seen many injuries like this.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
What would you first look at when you're taking a
look at an injury like Charlie Kirk appears to have
a shot to the neck.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
What do you expect to find? What do you expect
to see?
Speaker 4 (04:53):
So with the next structures, you have only a small
amount of space with major structures running. So you have
the internal crowded are the jugular vein, and then you
go more centralized. It's your main stem bronchi or your
whim pipe that gets all the air in there, and
then immediately behind that is your cervical verbra one through seven,
(05:13):
like you were talking about earlier, three four and five
see three four and five. Keep the diaphragm alive. So
if those if it's anywhere in three four and five,
you can't breathe anymore. If it's above three four and five,
you're dead. One and two you're instantly dead. So six
and seven you might be a quadriplegic at that point.
So really, if the shot is more centralized, it can
(05:37):
hit some pretty major vascular structures. It can wipe out
your ability to breathe, and it can instantly paralyze you
or even kill you.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Joe.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
You mentioned distance of fire and possibly using a long rifle,
which we don't know yet. We just know this is
what we're hearing. None of this is confirmed. But two
hundred yards away with a long rifle. What kind of
a rifle can shoot that far and that accurate?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Well, any any military grade weapon, hunting rifle. You know,
I think that people to want to be, if they
wanted spot on accuracy, would probably have scoped weapon, long arm,
if you know, because if you if you think about
an idea of someone firing actually a hand a handheld
weapon like a handgun, the range of fire on those
(06:24):
is not is not as robust as a long arm.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know, we talk a lot about the ballistic nature
of rifled rounds, and pistols are rifled. However, that longer
barrel facilitates that retention of energy. As this round travels
down down range, you're also going to have what's called
drop with the round. The further down range it goes,
(06:53):
the round begins, it's the nature of gravity will pull
that round down toward Earth, So you have to be
able to adjust your fire or at about two hundred
yards you'll get somewhat of a drop. The idea that
somebody using an iron sight from that range and being
that exact, they would have to be one hell of
(07:14):
a shot in order to do that. My suspicion is
it might be a scoped weapon at that kind.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Of range talking two football fields away, I velocity weapon,
and you're dealing with somebody with the expertise to pull
this off and to be able to be cagy enough
to be able to pull this weapon out and get
a shot off without anybody seeing. That's another part of
this that we've got to deal with too.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Right now. We know that.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Earlier this afternoon, Charlie Kirk was shot at a rally
at Utah Valley University in Aurum, Utah. It was about
two minutes into his talk with students. They were doing
a Q and A and one shot rang out, not
multiple shots. One shot and as jo Scott Morgan said,
he's hearing about two hundred yards away. Join us tomorrow
(08:01):
with Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, where she'll keep you
updated on what's happening with the shooting of Charlie Kirk
today in Utah
In a shocking turn of events, Charlie Kirk is dead.
The conservative fire brand was speaking to students at Utah
Valley University in Orum, Utah when a shot rang out.
Horrific footage of the incident shared on social media within
minutes showed Charlie Kirk's neck violently snapping back after the
(00:25):
shot rang out, and now the announcement from turning Point,
Charlie Kirk is dead at Utah University in an explosive
event that was being held for students and conservatives on campus.
As Charlie Kirk is welcoming everybody there with a quick
Q and a one shot rings out and it hits
(00:47):
him in the neck. Joseph Scott Morgan, I have to
ask you. You've seen the video. You've seen the shot
that appears to hit Charlie Kirk, and it looked I
saw the front of his shirt bunch up a little bit,
and I saw his arms go out. It reminded me
of jfk in Dallas. What are we looking at right
now with the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Estimates are that this shot took place at almost a
range of approximating two hundred yards away, so that means
that someone would have had to have gone to the
trouble of zeroing a weapon. I imagine this is a
long arm and probably scoped at a two hundred yard range,
and it was all witnesses are reporting that all they
(01:30):
heard was a single shot that was fired, and the
fact that it was the target area is such a
small area that gives you an idea of the precision.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Kenda Crowns.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Have you had a chance to see the video of
the actual shooting, yet, all.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
I've heard is a descriptions so far that he, like
you just said, he reached up to his neck and
blood was starting to gush out of his neck. So
that to me means some pretty vital structures are hit.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Okay, now, that's what I was kind of after, and
I appreciate you saying that, because that's my question right now. Guys,
a shot to the neck, there's a lot going in there.
And Joe, I know you and I've had talks about
this in the past about what happens in c when
you're in the cervical area of the neck. It's referred
to as C C one through what C seven and
(02:17):
when you're down CE five and below, you can survive
that a lot of the time, depending on where exactly
you hit. But above C five that's not survivable, is
that right?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
You know, your your chances are getting slimmer and slimmer
the further up you you travel up the spinal column.
And one of the things that really stood out to
me is this drawing of the arms up with the
clinching of the thumbs, which you know many times I
think that anybody that watches NFL football or college football,
you see these these players that have concussions that have
(02:54):
neuro problems as a result of getting their cage rattle,
that sort of thing. You know, again, we don't have
definitive diagnostic evidence of this, but you know, you just
visualizing this, you kind of get a sense that something
neurologically is going on here. And he shot in the neck.
I mean, let's face it, you know, we don't know
how extensive that is.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, Charlie Cooks, he's a young man. He's thirty two
years old.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
He started turning point back in twenty eleven, I believe,
so he's been after this since he was a very
young man. He's married, he's got a couple of children,
and I think the thing that gets me the most
is that Charlie Kirk is going on college campuses, and
right before this happened, he was. He actually posted a
video on x of him throwing out hats, turning point
(03:38):
hats and the crowd was going crazy. But it was
set up so that there was one group of people
that was up close, then there was like a break
of people like an aisleway, and then another group of
people behind that. There is security all around, and he
was under a tent where he was actually beginning to speak.
And as I said, this is before he actually begins
(03:59):
his actual speech.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
He's actually doing a quick Q and A. It's about
two minutes in when the shot was fired.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
You saw the shot, You saw his I saw his
shirt puff out.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
That's what I saw in that video. Did you guys
see the same thing?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Joe?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well, for me, my focus really wasn't on the shirt,
on the shirt itself, It was literally watching his hands
and seeing his response. He kind of listened to his
left and fell out of the chair and it was
it was really quick. The movement of shirt would not
surprise me because there's kind of a concussive element that
comes along with the round striking many times, and that.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Part you've seen many injuries like this.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
What would you first look at when you're taking a
look at an injury like Charlie Kirk appears to have
a shot to the neck.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
What do you expect to find? What do you expect
to see?
Speaker 4 (04:53):
So with the next structures, you have only a small
amount of space with major structures running. So you have
the internal crowded are the jugular vein, and then you
go more centralized. It's your main stem bronchi or your
whim pipe that gets all the air in there, and
then immediately behind that is your cervical verbra one through seven,
(05:13):
like you were talking about earlier, three four and five
see three four and five. Keep the diaphragm alive. So
if those if it's anywhere in three four and five,
you can't breathe anymore. If it's above three four and five,
you're dead. One and two you're instantly dead. So six
and seven you might be a quadriplegic at that point.
So really, if the shot is more centralized, it can
(05:37):
hit some pretty major vascular structures. It can wipe out
your ability to breathe, and it can instantly paralyze you
or even kill you.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Joe.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
You mentioned distance of fire and possibly using a long rifle,
which we don't know yet. We just know this is
what we're hearing. None of this is confirmed. But two
hundred yards away with a long rifle. What kind of
a rifle can shoot that far and that accurate?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Well, any any military grade weapon, hunting rifle. You know,
I think that people to want to be, if they
wanted spot on accuracy, would probably have scoped weapon, long arm,
if you know, because if you if you think about
an idea of someone firing actually a hand a handheld
weapon like a handgun, the range of fire on those
(06:24):
is not is not as robust as a long arm.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know, we talk a lot about the ballistic nature
of rifled rounds, and pistols are rifled. However, that longer
barrel facilitates that retention of energy. As this round travels
down down range, you're also going to have what's called
drop with the round. The further down range it goes,
(06:53):
the round begins, it's the nature of gravity will pull
that round down toward Earth, So you have to be
able to adjust your fire or at about two hundred
yards you'll get somewhat of a drop. The idea that
somebody using an iron sight from that range and being
that exact, they would have to be one hell of
(07:14):
a shot in order to do that. My suspicion is
it might be a scoped weapon at that kind.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Of range talking two football fields away, I velocity weapon,
and you're dealing with somebody with the expertise to pull
this off and to be able to be cagy enough
to be able to pull this weapon out and get
a shot off without anybody seeing. That's another part of
this that we've got to deal with too.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Right now. We know that.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Earlier this afternoon, Charlie Kirk was shot at a rally
at Utah Valley University in Aurum, Utah. It was about
two minutes into his talk with students. They were doing
a Q and A and one shot rang out, not
multiple shots. One shot and as jo Scott Morgan said,
he's hearing about two hundred yards away. Join us tomorrow
(08:01):
with Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, where she'll keep you
updated on what's happening with the shooting of Charlie Kirk
today in Utah
Host
Nancy Grace
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