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Conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk died Wednesday after he was shot at an event at Utah Valley University. He was 31 years old.

There was conflicting information about the investigation. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at a news conference, "we have a person of interest in custody," while Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said the suspect is still at large.

FBI Director Kash Patel later said a "subject in custody" was released after being interrogated.

Utah Valley University police said they were going "building to building" to evacuate people.

President Trump posted on Truth Social: "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!"

Kirk was participating in an event at the Orem, Utah, school as part of his organization's "The American Comeback Tour" when he was attacked.

The university said in a statement shared to social media that a shot was fired at Kirk shortly after 12 p.m. local time, and he was hit. A single shot was fired, two law enforcement sources told CBS News.

Video of the incident showed Kirk speaking to a large crowd at an outdoor "Prove Me Wrong" debate, where he invites students to challenge his political and cultural views, when the shot rings out.

Elected officials on both sides of the aisle had swiftly condemned the attack on Kirk and denounced acts of political violence.

President Trump late Wednesday blamed Kirk's shooting on "radical left political violence," saying it "has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives."

"For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals," he said in a video posted to Truth Social. "This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now."

The motive for the shooting remains unclear. Police have not identified a suspect, and authorities in Utah said earlier Wednesday they are looking for the perpetrator.

Mr. Trump said his administration "will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity, and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it."

The president listed off several other instances of violence, including last year's assassination attempt against him in Pennsylvania, the 2017 shooting that wounded Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and the deadly December shooting of UnitedHealthcare's CEO.

Mr. Trump did not mention several other recent acts of political violence that targeted Democratic officials. Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked at home in 2022. And earlier this year, a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were fatally shot, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence faced an arson attack.

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