A chilling tweet from Charlie Kirk in which he seemingly predicted his own death has resurfaced after he was shot and killed at an event in Utah.
Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated during a public debate at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10.
The attack unfolded about 20 minutes into his ‘American Comeback Tour’ appearance, as he debated students in front of a crowd of around 3,000 people.
According to witnesses, Kirk had just been discussing gun violence when a single shot rang out.
Raydon DeChene, seated near the front, told CBS News she heard a sudden pop and then saw Kirk clutch his neck as blood spurted out and his eyes rolled back.
She described the audience dropping to the ground in unison before panic spread through the crowd.
Sara Tewell, a UVU student in the fourth row, thought the sound was fireworks but then saw Kirk lying motionless with ‘blood gushing’, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“It’s really traumatizing,” the 23-year-old told the outlet. “I feel like I literally watched his soul leave his body.”
Tewell said Kirk seemed calm before the shooting and excited to talk to students.
“I don’t think he was expecting it at all,” she said.
Another student, who was close to the stage, recalled seeing ‘his neck just open up’ before people around her began screaming and running.
Graphic video footage captured from the audience shows people ducking and scattering as chaos broke out.
Seconds later, witnesses reported seeing a figure dressed in dark clothing sprinting across the roof of the nearby Losee Center, a building around 200 yards from where Kirk was speaking.
Authorities now believe the fatal shot came from that vantage point.
Law enforcement initially detained two people for questioning but later confirmed no suspect was in custody.
In a briefing, the FBI said the shooting was a targeted attack and revealed that a high-powered bolt-action rifle had been recovered from a wooded area near the campus.
Officials also said video evidence suggests the shooter was a male of ‘college age’.
The agency is now leading the investigation, with what it called its ‘full resources’ dedicated to identifying the gunman.
The tragedy has also cast a spotlight on event security.
Several attendees said there were no metal detectors or bag checks at the entrance, and only a small number of uniformed officers were visible among the crowd.
Hours before the shooting, Kirk’s wife Erika shared a post on Instagram quoting Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
In the aftermath, many have described the timing of the post as chilling, with condolences pouring in from followers who saw it as a moment of faith foreshadowing tragedy.
At the time, it appeared to be a routine faith-based reflection. But after Kirk’s death, the message was widely seen as hauntingly prophetic.
Followers flooded her page with condolences, pointing out the chilling timing.
Kirk himself had posted on X just before the event began, writing, paying tribute to 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, who was fatally stabbed on a train in North Carolina after fleeing the war in Ukraine.
On X, Kirk wrote: “If we want things to change, it’s 100% necessary to politicize the senseless murder of Iryna Zarutska because it was politics that allowed a savage monster with 14 priors to be free on the streets to kill her.”
One fan later reflected on the post, calling it haunting in hindsight: “If this was your final statement, rest assured it will be taken to heart – both for her and for you.”
The political response to Kirk’s assassination was immediate. Donald Trump confirmed Kirk’s death in a Truth Social post, praising him as ‘great’ and ‘legendary’ and ordering that US flags be flown at half-mast until Sunday.
He extended his condolences to Kirk’s wife Erika and their family, saying no one else understood the youth of America better.
Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the violence, stressing that political assassinations have no place in the United States.
Amid the grief and shock, one detail has seized public attention more than any other: a tweet Kirk posted more than a decade ago in which he seemed to eerily predict his own death.
As tributes and outrage continue, many online have been drawn to a haunting message Kirk himself posted on X, formally known as Twitter, in 2014.
Writing on the platform, he said: “Did I just get shot by an AR-15? Feels like it.”
In the hours following his assassination, the post has gone viral.
Thousands have shared it as evidence of chilling foresight, with many calling the coincidence ‘haunting’ and ‘unbelievable’.
What the FBI Has Revealed
Law enforcement initially took two people into custody, but both were released after questioning. As of writing, no suspect is in custody.
At a press briefing, the FBI and Utah authorities shared several updates:
- Weapon recovered: Investigators found a high-powered bolt-action rifle abandoned in a wooded area nearby. Ballistics tests are underway to confirm it was the weapon used.
- Shooter description: Officials say video evidence shows the suspect appears to be a male of college age.
- Targeted attack: The FBI believes Kirk was specifically targeted, though the motive is still under investigation.
- Full resources deployed: Federal, state, and local agencies are working together in what has been described as one of the most significant political assassination investigations in recent U.S. history.
The FBI’s announcement also clarified a crucial point about Kirk’s 2014 tweet: while he referenced an AR-15, the rifle recovered after the shooting was a bolt-action weapon – not a semi-automatic AR-15–style rifle.
That means the weapon in his old tweet does not match the gun believed to have killed him.
Still, the coincidence remains deeply unsettling to many.
