Classes have restarted at Utah Valley University (UVU) just one week after conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on campus, as per a report by New York Post.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on September 10 while speaking at an open-air event on UVU’s Orem campus during his American Comeback Tour. The shooting sent the crowd of roughly 3,000 attendees into chaos as students and onlookers fled for safety.
“I was literally a few feet away from him and when the tragic shooting happened, I was squarely facing him, so I watched that unfold,” said Nyasha Paradzai, a senior at UVU, in an interview with CNN.
“In my world, you don’t hear guns. This was very new for me, not only to hear one, but to have it fired at someone right in front of you and have them bleed out in front of you was horrific,” Paradzai added.
The international student from Zimbabwe said that coming back to class has been difficult, describing “countless reminders of the event, countless things that have made me relive that.”
“Right now, I’m working to get that horrific image out of my head, because, you know, it’s almost every time you close your eyes, you see it again,” he said.
The shooting left the state’s largest public university, which serves more than 46,000 students, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, in shock.
UVU has announced that free mental health counseling will be available to students at least through the end of this week, added New York Post.
A “Vigil for Unity” is planned for Friday, September 19, to allow students, faculty, staff, and community members to gather, grieve, and “reaffirm shared values.”
“This attack was not just on an individual, but on the spirit of free expression, civil discourse, and intellectual inquiry that sits at the very foundation of our university,” UVU President Astrid S. Tuminez said in a statement.
“The violence that occurred on our campus has shaken us deeply. We remain steadfast in our commitment to learning, dialogue, and the values that unite us, even in times of grief,” Tuminez said.
Authorities have identified 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson as the gunman. He allegedly fired the single fatal shot from the roof of the Losee Center Building, roughly 200 yards from Kirk’s seat under a pop-up tent.
Robinson confessed to the killing in a text message exchange with his boyfriend on Friday morning, police said. He now faces seven state charges, including aggravated murder, a capital offense in Utah that carries the possibility of the death penalty.