Charlie Kirk’s Casket To Be Flown To Arizona On Air Force Two

Charlie Kirk’s casket will be flown to Phoenix on Thursday aboard Air Force Two, accompanied by his family, friends, Vice President JD Vance and the Second Lady, a source familiar with the plans told the Daily Caller.

Before the flight, the vice president and second lady will join Kirk’s family and several of his close friends in Salt Lake City, the source said. Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Wednesday during a campus event at Utah Valley University. He was 31. (RELATED: Trump To Award Charlie Kirk Medal Of Freedom Following Assassination)

News: Charlie Kirk’s casket, along with his family and friends and the Vice President and Second Lady, will fly to Phoenix, Arizona, aboard Air Force Two later today, a source familiar with the plans tells @DailyCaller.

Prior, the Vice President and Second Lady will meet with…

— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) September 11, 2025

President Donald Trump confirmed Kirk’s death Wednesday after initial reports said the 31-year-old was in critical condition. A university spokesperson told the Caller that while Kirk was speaking to students, a shot fired from a building roughly 200 yards away struck him in the neck.

“All of a sudden, out of nowhere, there was this loud bang, just one shot, bang. And I saw him hit in the neck, and I saw red gushing blood out of it,” a local college student who attended the event told the Caller, adding that Kirk had been answering a question on religion when the shot was fired.

Trump announced Thursday that he will award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“Before we begin let me express the horror and grief of so many Americans of the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt,” Trump said. “Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people. Our prayers are with his wonderful wife Erika and his beautiful children. Fantastic people they are. We miss him greatly. I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”

“I am pleased to announce that I will soon be awarding Charlie Kirk, posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” he added.

At the time of publication, the FBI has not apprehended a suspect. The bureau’s Salt Lake City field office on Thursday released surveillance photos on X of a person of interest in Kirk’s fatal shooting.