A person looks over the Utah Valley University courtyard where political activist Charlie Kirk was shot on September 15, 2025, in Orem, Utah. Chet Strange/Getty Images

Students are returning to class Wednesday at Utah Valley University just days after prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event on campus, thrusting the community into the national spotlight.

Nyasha Paradzai, a UVU junior, said he was lined up in front of Kirk, waiting to debate him at the campus event, when he was killed.

“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,” Paradzai told CNN in an interview Tuesday.

When Paradzai heard the pop from the shot that hit Kirk, the international student from

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