(NewsNation) — A witness of the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, 31, believes Utah Valley University “failed him.”
The Turning Point USA co-founder died Wednesday after being shot at an event on campus.
Witnesses reported hearing a single shot fired during the speaking event, which hit Kirk.
“Anyone could just walk in. It was probably the worst place on campus, because there’s so many areas where anyone can just walk in,” the witness told NewsNation local affiliate KTVX.
“I would say the security level. I would say UVU kind of failed him in a way,”
The witness went on to say, “I was probably 10 to 15 feet away from Charlie Kirk, so pretty close to him. I don’t know if I want to describe it again, but it was pretty, pretty traumatizing.”
He added that he heard what appeared to be cheers after the gunfire.
“I was with one of my good friends, and as soon as the gun went off, we both hit the floor, started praying,” he said.
“Everyone was screaming, and then, yeah, we got up, and we just started running. … I did see a select group of students who stood up and cheered after the fact, which was really sad to see.”
Kirk leaves behind a wife and two young children, a 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.