Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University event
The allegations were made in a legal notice filed on September 9, a mandatory step under Utah law before Kirk’s heirs can bring a wrongful-death claim against public entities.
Long said after the shooting that six campus officers had staffed the event and coordinated with Kirk’s eight-person private security team. The university later said it was expanding its police force. The notice names the university, its then-president Astrid Tuminez, the campus police department and its chief, Jeffrey Long, as well as the state of Utah. A review by news agency AP found that the campus police presence was below recommended levels for a university of its size.
The family of slain US conservative activist Charlie Kirk has accused Utah Valley University (UVU) and state officials of a series of security failures that allegedly left him exposed to a rooftop gunman before he was fatally shot at a campus event in September 2025.
Attorneys for Kirk’s family said his death followed a series of “reckless decisions” by university officials. “The risk of a rooftop shooter should have been especially top-of-mind given the attempted assassination of President Trump, Charlie Kirk’s close friend and political ally, by a rooftop shooter the previous year,” family attorney D. Loren Washburn wrote in the notice. The family further alleged that officials failed to carry out an adequate risk assessment, establish a secure perimeter or ensure that first responders were immediately available.