SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Charlie Kirk’s family blamed Utah officials for failing to prevent the conservative activist’s assassination at a state university, in a wrongful death notice announced Wednesday that presages a possible lawsuit.

Attorneys for the family said Kirk’s death resulted from a string of “reckless decisions” by officials at Utah Valley University that left him exposed to a rooftop sniper, who fired a fatal shot from more than 400 feet (122 meters) away on Sept. 10, 2025. The university has faced harsh criticism for a lack of key safety measures on the day of the shooting.

Kirk, 31, had been debating students in an outdoor courtyard surrounded by tall buildings and with several thousand people in attendance. An Associated Press review following the shooting showed the campus in Orem did not use several public safety practices that have become standard safeguards at events around the country.

Campus police staffing was far below recommended levels for a school of that size. They also did not fly a drone to monitor rooftops or coordinate with local law enforcement to secure the event attended by about 3,000 people. There were no bag checks or metal detectors.

“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,” Kirk family attorney D. Loren Washburn wrote in the notice to state and university officials.

The document, dated Sept. 9, a day before the one-year anniversary of Kirk’s death, is a required step under state law before his family can file a formal claim or lawsuit. It names the university and its then-president, Astrid Tuminez; the campus police department and its chief, Jeffrey Long; and the state of Utah.

A spokesperson for Utah Valley University said the school was aware of the notice and would address it “consistent with our established processes.”

“Our focus remains on supporting our campus community,” spokesperson Sharon Turner said in a statement.

The Utah Attorney General’s Office said it does not comment on potential litigation.

Attorneys for Kirk’s family alleged additional lapses by officials, including not conducting an adequate risk assessment before approving the event, failing to establish a secure perimeter and having no first responders immediately available, resulting in Kirk being taken to a nearby hospital in a private vehicle rather than an ambulance after he was shot.

“Tragically, the UVU Parties took none of these safety measures — steps only they had the authority to take — resulting in a situation that rendered Mr. Kirk helpless before his assassin,” Washburn wrote.

Long said after the shooting that six of his officers staffed the event and coordinated with Kirk’s eight-person private security team. The school said it was expanding its police force following the shooting.

Utah resident Tyler Robinson turned himself in a day after Kirk’s killing. Prosecutors say he told his romantic partner that he “had enough of his (Kirk’s) hatred.”

Robinson is charged with aggravated murder, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. A judge on Sept. 1 ordered the case to proceed toward trial. A date has not yet been set.

Prosecutors during a preliminary hearing in July presented what they characterized as overwhelming evidence against Robinson. That includes surveillance video of Robinson on the campus, DNA tests linking him to a rifle found near the assassination site and a handwritten note he allegedly left for his romantic partner that read, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.”

Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, and widow, Erika Kirk, attended the hearings.

State law allows heirs or personal representatives of people who die to file lawsuits seeking damages if the death was caused by a wrongful act or negligence. The notice from Kirk’s family did not specify what damages they may seek.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas defensive coordinator Ron Roberts said Tuesday that there were “a lot of busts” in defensive coverage during the Razorbacks’ 43-10 loss to No. 17 Utah on Saturday.

Aside from a Christian Harrison interception in the second quarter, Arkansas had no answers for Utah’s offense, led by QB Devon Dampier, who completed 18 of his 24 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

Utah’s offense also featured plenty of unique formations and a two-QB system in which backup QB Byrd Ficklin threw a double pass on the first play of the game and also came in to take handoffs from Dampier. Whatever Utah wanted to do on Saturday, it did, and Roberts’ unit often looked confused and out of place.

“We’ve got to move on and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Roberts said. “But like I said, the majority of it … the good thing, it wasn’t, oh, they out-physicaled us up front. It wasn’t, oh they out-ran us. It was just a bunch of — also a negative, it was a bunch of mental busts. We don’t have a guy on it. I mean there were several runs in there I could have made. I can run the ball for a first down there. There’s nobody on you. So, it’s things we’ve got to get cleaned up.”

Perhaps the most worrying remark from Roberts’ Tuesday news conferences was how he characterized Utah’s offense and the mistakes, both mental and physical, it forced Arkansas’ defense into.

“Some of the things we busted on, to be honest some of them were Day 1 calls,” Roberts said. “I mean, Day 1 install. It’s basic stuff. It wasn’t nuclear physics, what they were doing. Is it complicated? Yeah. Is it nuclear physics? No, it’s not. You know what I mean? If you’ve got the flat, you’ve got the flat. If you’ve got the half, you’ve got the half.

“If I’ve got the pitch guy, I’ve got the pitch guy. If I’ve got the quarterback, I’ve got the quarterback. Oh, good. You know what I mean? That part of it’s not that hard, you know what I mean? And if I don’t have somebody on the quarterback and he pulls the ball out and runs, like I said, I could do that.”

Arkansas may not see another offense as unique as Utah’s for the rest of this season, but for Roberts to say that the Utes’ offense was not extremely complicated doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

The offenses of Texas, LSU, Georgia and Texas A&M the Razorbacks face over the final 10 games of the season will all have more talent than Utah’s, and units led by the likes of Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin are likely closer to rocket science than the offense of North Alabama, which Arkansas defended relatively well.

With No. 2 Georgia, led by QB Gunner Stockton, coming to town on Saturday, Arkansas’ defense will have to play much better just to keep the Hogs in the game.

UGA’s offense certainly hasn’t had the need to be all that complicated through two games against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky, so the Razorbacks may get the first look at what the Bulldogs’ offense is truly intended to be on Saturday.

“They’ve been really simple,” Roberts said. “He [Georgia OC Mike Bobo] hasn’t really ran their whole offense in the first two ball games. He’s run like, probably, Day 1 and 2 camp stuff.

“He hasn’t really been running any of their stuff. But we’ve got years of banked things, of things they do and what they want to do, and probably a pretty good idea, I’ve got a pretty good idea of how he wants to tackle what we do and what’s going to happen.”

Georgia is a 24.5 point favorite against the Razorbacks. Kickoff between Arkansas and the No. 2 Bulldogs is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, with coverage on ABC and the Razorback Sports Network.

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