Charlie Kirk’s family has taken the first step towards filing a lawsuit against Utah Valley University and the State of Utah for the security failures they say left him exposed to a rooftop assassin.
Attorneys for his widow, Erika Kirk and their two young children, filed a notice of claim dated September 9, one day before the first anniversary of his death.
The document is required under Utah law before a wrongful death lawsuit can be filed against a public university or the state.
Deseret News notes, “Under Utah code, a spouse, child or parent of an individual who died because of the negligent actions of a government employee must file a notice of claim within one year of the death and a formal lawsuit within two years.”
The notice of claim does not list a dollar amount, but it says the damages are “substantial.”
The notice names the State of Utah, UVU, the UVU Police Department, Campus Police Chief Jeffrey Long, then-President Astrid Tuminez, and other state officials.
It accuses them of “a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions” that “created a foreseeable danger to Charlie” and “rendered Mr. Kirk helpless to the rooftop shooter in an assassination that could have been avoided.”
Attorney Brett Parkinson said in a statement that the murder “was entirely preventable and, in fact, would not have happened had the State of Utah and UVU followed through on their stated security promises, which included protecting the rooftops surrounding the quad where Charlie was speaking.”
Before the event, Turning Point USA received a warning from its campus chapter that students had roof access “pretty close” to where Kirk would be set up at the Sorensen Student Center, with staircases leading to rooftop walkways.
A TPUSA official forwarded that warning to Chief Long and wrote that “it would be nice to either have it controlled access or allow one of my guys to be there as well. If possible.”
Long’s reply, according to the filing, was, “I got you covered.”
The alleged shooter later fired from a nearby rooftop that the family says was never secured.
Students were known to hang out up there and UVU employees “would often find beer bottles and other trash/paraphernalia on this very rooftop,” the notice states.
The filing says the risk of a rooftop shooter “should have been especially top-of-mind given the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk’s close friend and political ally, by a rooftop shooter the previous year.”
“On information and belief, [UVU Campus Police] Chief Jeffrey Long requested approval from then-UVU President, Astrid Tuminez, to allocate more than the six officers — which represented only 25% of the UVU police force — but his request was denied,” the claim states.
The claim adds, “The UVU Parties’ planning was so deficient that when Mr. Kirk was shot first responders were not available and Mr. Kirk was transported to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in a private vehicle, not an ambulance.”
Reading through the notice of claim filed by the Kirk family against UVU that details one lapse of security after the next has been one of the hardest parts of the last few days. Campus events can be, and are, mostly very safe, but campus PD just has to do the basics.
TPUSA… https://t.co/7NkIYIpIFZ
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) September 16, 2026
TPUSA Spokesman Andrew Kolvet wrote of the filing on X:
Reading through the notice of claim filed by the Kirk family against UVU that details one lapse of security after the next has been one of the hardest parts of the last few days. Campus events can be, and are, mostly very safe, but campus PD just has to do the basics.
TPUSA texted, “Hello Chief Long – we received this message today from the student group…. ‘there is student roof access pretty close to where [Charlie Kirk] will be set up at Utah Valley.’” The TPUSA official had even added “it would be nice to either have it controlled access or allow one of my guys to be there as well. If Possible.” Chief Long replied “I got you covered.”
The rooftop was a well known hangout for local students. Beer bottles and other garbage was often spotted up there — they knew this vulnerability well. This was also just over a year post Butler, so this should’ve been top of mind.
But that wasn’t the only failure.
Only six campus PD officers were on site that day. There was no security briefing before the event. There was no written plan. Charlie’s security was larger than the campus police.
No drones were deployed or available by UVU campus PD, and TPUSA was not authorized to run their own. Nearby Orem PD has a sophisticated drone program but were never called to assist.
CCTV cameras on campus were not monitored in realtime.
Chief Long requested additional resources, but the request was not granted by the university president.
Only UVU had legal authority to secure, surveil, block, and manage access on campus. Charlie’s security could only maintain safety inside his “bubble” a space of 20-30 feet around him.
Charlie deserved the best, and he didn’t get it. But nothing novel or extraordinary was required to keep CK and the crowd safe. The basics were not even close to being covered.
Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck on September 10, 2025, while debating students in an outdoor courtyard at UVU in Orem.
Authorities say Tyler Robinson fired the deadly shot from the rooftop of the Losee Center.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robinson. He has pleaded not guilty.
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