Charlie Kirk shooting could change nationwide security practices, expert says
Changes to campus security after Charlie Kirk shooting
This week's shooting on the campus of Utah Valley University has already sparked discussions in the world of higher education on how to prevent future tragedies.
DALLAS - This week's shooting on the campus of Utah Valley University has already sparked discussions in the world of higher education on how to prevent future tragedies.
In particular, safety when it comes to hosting controversial and high-profile guests.
FOX 4 spoke with an expert on school safety Friday to discuss the issue.
Security changes after Charlie Kirk shooting
WASHINGTON - JULY 17: Charlie Kirk is seen in the Fiserv Forum on the third night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis., on Wednesday July 17, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Deadly shootings at American colleges and universities are unfortunately not a new phenomenon.
But this one is different from all the rest, and experts say it's vital to learn from it, so history does not repeat itself.
Timeline:
In August 1966, color TV wasn't even mainstream, yet.
A sniper, perched atop the 27-story clock tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin, indiscriminately shot and killed 14 people, wounding another 31.
In April 2007, two months before Apple released its first iPhone, a student at Virginia Tech went on a shooting rampage, killing 32 and injuring more than two dozen.
Now, in 2025, the sound of gunfire at Utah Valley University killed one man and disrupted the entire nation.
Charlie Kirk shooting suspect identified as Tyler Robinson
Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah, has been identified as the suspect in the murder of Charlie Kirk.
‘Unprecedented in modern history’
What they're saying:
"I think, tragically, our society, our campuses, have really become trained to expect a mass shooting when we hear a gun,"
But it wasn't a mass shooting in Utah. Rather, it was what appears to be a targeted attack.
Something that likely wasn't even on law enforcement's radar, according to S. Daniel Carter, president of a school safety security company.
"What was not apparently addressed adequately was a sniper and that is just unprecedented in modern history, in this context," Carter said.
Carter says in the same way campuses have implemented security protocols through the years for active shooters, they must now do the same for special events and guests.
"There will be more work required to secure them, including surveying roofs, lines of fire — all of these types of things that I think are now a part of our reality," said Carter.
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The investigation comes in the midst of high-profile terminations for comments and online remarks made about the conservative political commentator's death, including one employee of a Texas school.
Especially at a time when free speech on many college campuses has been under attack.
Experts say, however, heightened security comes with a higher price tag.
"And that's not always easy to do. There's a cost associated with that. In fact, one of the biggest controversies for the last decades or so has been whether or not a speaker incurs a cost and security that the institution can bear," Carter said.
Yet we're no doubt living in very different times, where a different approach to safety is inevitable.
Experts say it’s also a delicate balance between keeping people safe and not making a campus feel like a fortress where students are shielded from differing ideas, opinions or viewpoints.
The Source: Information in this report comes from a FOX 4 interview with S. Daniel Carter and previous FOX reporting.