When did Charlie Kirk die and what was the official cause of death?

1. What happened: a high‑profile campus shooting

Reporting across outlets describes Kirk being shot while speaking at an outdoor Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. Multiple outlets state he was killed by a single gunshot, and accounts place the incident in mid‑September 2025 ^{[1] [4] [2]}. Coverage emphasizes the immediate national attention the killing drew and the intensified debate about political violence that followed ^{[1] [3]}.

2. Date and timeline: small discrepancies in public reporting

Primary reports commonly list September 10, 2025, as the shooting date ^{[1] [2] [4]}. PBS described the fatal shooting as occurring “Sept. 12, 2025” in one of its pieces, reflecting a discrepancy in early reporting or time‑zone/confirmation differences ^[3]. Available sources do not reconcile that divergence; each outlet cites its own timeline ^{[1] [3] [2]}.

3. Official cause of death as reported

News outlets and fact‑checks uniformly report Kirk died from a gunshot wound inflicted during the event; fact‑checkers and obituaries state he was “killed by a single gunshot” ^{[4] [2]}. PBS and other reporting call it a “fatal shooting” and describe the death as the result of an apparent sniper attack from a rooftop ^{[3] [5]}.

4. The suspect, charges and legal posture

Authorities arrested Tyler Robinson and he has appeared in court; Reuters and local reporting describe Robinson as the accused shooter, say he was charged with multiple counts including aggravated murder, obstruction and witness tampering, and note prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty ^[5]. Charging documents and court filings are cited by outlets but the probe and prosecution remain ongoing in the reporting provided ^[5].

5. Broader context: political violence and national reaction

Media coverage places Kirk’s killing in a year marked by heightened political violence, noting other politically charged killings and attacks in 2024–2025; commentators and officials framed the assassination as intensifying concerns about partisan violence and online rhetoric ^{[1] [3] [6]}. The killing provoked denouncements across the ideological spectrum and spawned disputes over blame and conspiracy theories in the aftermath ^{[1] [3]}.

6. Disputed claims and misinformation in the aftermath

Multiple sources recount how the killing generated rapid circulation of unverified claims and conspiracies — including allegations that foreign actors were involved — and that some commentators were accused of advancing unsupported theories ^{[1] [7]}. Fact‑checking reporting confirms the basic forensic claim (single gunshot) but shows many post‑shooting narratives were speculative; outlets warn about politicized framing ^{[4] [1]}.

7. What reporting does not say (limitations in available sources)

Available sources do not publish a contemporaneous official coroner’s report or an autopsy text in the provided material; they rely on law‑enforcement statements, charging documents and press reporting to state cause of death as the gunshot received during the event ^{[3] [5] [4]}. The record does not include detailed forensic findings or a final prosecutorial adjudication of motive in the pieces supplied ^{[5] [8]}.

8. Takeaway: facts established, questions remaining

The established facts in reporting: Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at a Utah Valley University event in September 2025 and died of a gunshot wound; a suspect, Tyler Robinson, has been arrested and charged with aggravated murder and related counts ^{[4] [2] [5]}. Open questions in available coverage include the precise single‑date timeline discrepancies, the full forensic autopsy text, and the definitive motive as established through trial — those remain to be resolved in court records and further reporting ^{[3] [5] [8]}.