By Jesse Bedayn, Hannah Schoenbaum, Lindsey Wasson and Rio Yamat | Related Press
OREM, Utah — One pupil holed up in his home for 2 days after witnessing Charlie Kirk’s assassination, nervous about going again to the Utah school campus the place the conservative activist was shot. One other, unable to sleep or shake what she noticed and heard, known as her dad to return take her house.
As investigators spend the weekend digging deeper into suspect Tyler James Robinson forward of his preliminary courtroom look Tuesday, college students who witnessed Wednesday’s taking pictures at Utah Valley College are reckoning with trauma, grief and the pall the killing has forged on their neighborhood.
Robinson’s arrest late Thursday calmed some fears. Nonetheless, questions persist concerning the alleged shooter’s motive and planning, in addition to safety lapses that allowed a person with a rifle to shoot Kirk from a rooftop earlier than fleeing.
The college has mentioned there might be elevated safety when courses resume on Sept. 17.
In Robinson’s hometown, about 240 miles (390 kilometers) southwest of campus, a legislation enforcement presence was considerably diminished Saturday after the FBI executed a search warrant at his household’s house. A grey Dodge Challenger that authorities say Robinson drove to UVU appeared to have been hauled away.
Nobody answered the door Saturday at his household’s house in Washington, Utah, and the blinds had been closed.
The killing has prompted pleas for civility in American political discourse, however these calls weren’t all the time heeded, and a few individuals who have criticized Kirk within the wake of his dying have been fired or suspended from their jobs.
On Friday, Workplace Depot mentioned it fired a employee at a Michigan retailer who was seen on video refusing to print flyers for a Kirk vigil and calling them “propaganda.” On Thursday, a conservative web persona filmed a video exterior Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s house, urging viewers to “take action” after Kirk’s assassination. Pritzker’s safety has been stepped up.
At a makeshift memorial close to Utah Valley College’s major entrance in Orem, folks have been leaving flowers in tribute to Kirk. Vehicles looped close by streets Saturday, honking horns, flying American flags and displaying messages equivalent to “We love you Charlie,” “Charlie 4 Ever” and “RIP Charlie.”
Within the space the place the Turning Level USA co-founder was shot, a crew has begun taking down tents and banners and scrubbing away reminders of the killing.
A memorial to Kirk brings surprised college students collectively
Pupil Alec Vera stopped on the memorial after lastly leaving his home Friday evening for a drive to clear his head. Vera mentioned he had been in a daze, unable to pay attention and avoiding folks, since watching Kirk collapse about 30 or 40 ft (9 to 12 meters) in entrance of him.
“I just kind of felt the need to come here, to be with everyone, either to comfort or to be comforted, just to kind of surround myself with those that are also mourning,” Vera mentioned.
One lady knelt, sobbing. Others stood quietly or spoke softly with buddies. On the campus’ perimeter, timber had been wrapped in pink ribbons.
A handful of vehicles remained stranded in parking tons by college students who left behind keys whereas fleeing the taking pictures. One pupil pleaded with an officer to let him retrieve his bike from past the police tape and cracked a smile because the officer let him via. The college mentioned folks can choose up their belongings early subsequent week.
Anxious about returning to campus
Pupil Marjorie Holt began crying when she introduced flowers to campus Thursday, prompting her to alter her thoughts about returning to campus this weekend.
Hours after the taking pictures, the 18-year-old mentioned she lay in mattress, haunted by the horror she witnessed: the sound of a single gunshot as Kirk answered a query after which, “I saw him fall over, I saw the blood, but for some reason it couldn’t click to me what happened.”
Unable to sleep due to a pounding headache, nausea and the day’s trauma, she known as her dad, who introduced her house to Salt Lake Metropolis, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) to the north.
Returning to campus, Holt mentioned, is “going to feel like a terrible, like a burden on my heart.”
Vera mentioned Kirk was shot in the primary campus gathering spot — the place college students take naps, meditate, do homework and hang around.
“Seeing it when I go back, I will be pretty uncomfortable at first, knowing I have to walk past it each time, knowing what had just occurred here,” Vera mentioned.
Battling flashbacks and a bizarre heaviness
Pupil Alexis Narciso mentioned he has flashbacks when he hears a bang, a honking horn or different loud noise. He was about 10 ft (3 meters) away.
“I just feel numb. I don’t feel anything,” Narciso mentioned. “I want to cry but at the same time I don’t.”
Jessa Packard, a single mom of two who lives close to the campus, mentioned even with a suspect in custody, her feeling of unease hasn’t lifted. Packard’s house safety system captured video of the Dodge Challenger that police say Robinson drove to campus. After the taking pictures, she mentioned, legislation enforcement officers descended on her neighborhood, looking out yards and taking safety footage.
“There’s this really weird heaviness and I think, honestly, a lot of fear for me personally that hasn’t gone away,” Packard mentioned. “The fact that there was like this murderer in my neighborhood, not knowing where he is but knowing he’s been through there, coursing things out, is a really eerie feeling.”
Looking for closure from one campus to a different
Halle Hanchett, 19, a pupil at close by Brigham Younger College, mentioned she had simply pulled her telephone out to start out filming Kirk when she heard the gunshot adopted by a collective gasp. Hanchett mentioned she noticed blood, Kirk’s safety crew soar ahead and horror on the faces round her. She dropped to the bottom within the fetal place, questioning: “What is going on? Am I going to die?”
On Friday, she introduced flowers and quietly gazed on the space the place the kickoff to Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour” had led to violence.
“The last few days I’ve just, haven’t really said much, I just kinda like zone out, stare off,” Hanchett mentioned, standing along with her fiancé as water fountains bubbled close by. “The memory, it just replays.”
She’s praying for the power to maneuver ahead, she mentioned, “and take it as: ‘OK, I was here for this. How can I learn from this? And how can I help other people learn from this?’”
A neighbor of Robinson’s appears for solutions
In Robinson’s hometown, neighbor Kris Schwiermann recalled him as a shy, studious and “very respectful” pupil who liked to learn. Schwiermann, 66, was head custodian on the elementary faculty that Robinson and his siblings attended.
Just like the Robinsons, Schwiermann is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She mentioned they belonged to the identical congregation, although she mentioned the household hadn’t been energetic within the church in a minimum of eight years.
“I want to make sure that people know that we don’t have any ill feelings towards their family or him,” Schwiermann mentioned. “He made the wrong choice.”
Yamat reported from Washington, Utah, and St. George, Utah. Related Press reporters Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix, Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael R. Sisak in New York additionally contributed to this report.
Initially Printed: September 13, 2025 at 12:57 PM PDT
