Charlie Kirk assassination witness says shot did not come from the crowd

A family who witnessed conservative influencer Charlie Kirk's murder said panic struck the crowd when a gunshot went off.

Kirk was shot in the neck Wednesday during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Deanna Holland drove to the event with her family from Utah County, about 20 minutes away. Holland told Blaze News that she brought her two daughters, ages 14 and 18, and her son, 12, because they were huge fans of Kirk and wanted to meet him in person.

'From what I can tell, there was a shooter on a rooftop.'

Holland said her young son was standing in line to ask Kirk a question as she watched from behind in the crowd.

"[He stood] just to the side of that line because he's small and he was excited to speak with Charlie," Holland told Blaze News.

While she was nearby with her two daughters, "there was one very loud shot," she recalled.

"My son and my 14-year-old daughter both saw Charlie get shot."RELATED: Charlie Kirk murdered in college campus assassination

Image provided to Blaze News by Deanna Holland, taken Sept 10, 2025 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

"Everybody dropped," Holland said.

Immediately, the elder daughter went looking for her brother, while Holland and the younger daughter headed for safety.

"I took my 14-year-old and went down towards the front underneath the cement. Right behind Charlie, there was a cement walkway that had [an overhang]. You could walk underneath it."

The mother then started yelling for her other child.

"At that point in time, I just was yelling for my son, asking people to yell his name."

Thankfully, Holland quickly noticed that her son was underneath the same cement walkway.

Police soon came down to the location, Holland remembered, and her family was then ushered into a grassy area to safety.

Holland described the gunshot as "very loud" and claimed that it came from her right and "up high," which would have been to Kirk's right as well.

"From what I can tell, there was a shooter on a rooftop," Holland added. "There was not a shooter that I could tell in the general crowd."

RELATED: Charlie Kirk shot during college campus tour

Photo by Nordin Catic/Getty Images

Despite the chaos, Holland said she was having a great time at the event while it was happening. She described the crowd as "a bunch of very patriotic college students" who would have "done what they needed to do" to protect Kirk if they could have.

After the fact, Holland's young son revealed to her that he was brought to the cement area by a college-age girl who was also waiting in line to ask Kirk a question.

The boy wondered if she was there to disagree with or debate Kirk, given that she was wearing what he described as a "satanic T-shirt."

"After the shot was fired, she was the one to take my son to safety under the bridge. He was even wearing a pro-life shirt at the time," Holland said. "I just want to thank that young woman, whoever she is.”

Kirk's murder is still under investigation at the time of this writing. FBI Director Kash Patel announced on X Wednesday evening, "The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody."

Editor's note: This headline has been edited after publication for clarity.

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