We continue to follow.

The killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, shot this afternoon in Utah.

Kirk was shot while speaking outdoors at Utah Valley University.

President Donald Trump announced Kirk's death on Truth Social.

Around 4:45 p.m. Eastern time.

Police say a person taken into custody is not the shooter.

As of our Kentucky edition deadline, the search for the gunman continued.

Congressman James Comer of Kentucky's first district was told about the shooting during a House Oversight Committee meeting today and asked for a moment of silence.

I like to ask, for prayer for Charlie Kirk.

It's been reported that he's been shot at an event.

Well, you have a moment of silence.

Other Kentucky politicians are also commenting on the shooting.

The social media post came before Kirk's death.

Congressman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky's second district posted this.

He says he and his wife, Beth, are praying for Kirk and his family.

Senator Rand Paul says he is heartbroken, and he also asks people to pray.

This is Safe Schools Week in Kentucky, which is why today I spoke with John Akers and Patricia Greer, both with the Kentucky Center for School Safety.

I was speaking them in light of recent mass shootings at campuses across the country, when news from Utah broke.

As we were taping this discussion just a few minutes before, we learned that there was another shooting at Utah Valley University involving a very high profile conservative podcaster, Charlie Kirk.

And so we don't know much about that case at the time we were talking.

But, John, I'll listen to you first and just ask you in light of what we're saying.

And of course, these incidents happen with regularity.

It seems, does that kind of change the kind of conversation about school safety at all levels here in Kentucky?

Well, it certainly does.

And this was a shock to me.

Just a, find out what you were just saying about what's all going on in Utah.

Post-secondary kids are more vulnerable than the K through 12 kids, period, because of the freedom that they have.

And, you know, when I was driving up here, I saw all the kids walking around the campus here at UK.

So there's a vulnerability there.

You know, I would say particularly in the evening to when, when, the kids are just walking around having a good time.

So there's a vulnerability there.

But, when you talk about K through 12, you're talking about a different dynamic altogether.

And we're talking 8:00 to 3:00, basically five days a week as far as school safety is concerned.

But this goes on further and we can talk about that further.

Absolutely.

Patricia, I do want to get your thoughts because you are centered on a on a university campus at Murray State University.

I mean, what is the conversation like given that these these spate of shootings seem to happen with some regularity and they are unpredictable and we don't know when they will happen.

Has it changed the safety measures that Murray State University has implemented?

Well, I want to brag on the campus police across our state.

You know, Murray State has a campus police office that sends out information about active aggressor training and an active shooter training, if you would like it.

So universities, police stations are really working to, provide safe environments, but it goes back to, as John mentions, it's just such a different, setting, like, it's very hard to, you know, have, secure access when you have that many buildings.

And, students are walking, from their dorm room to their classrooms and, and back and forth.

But, you know, our, like I said, our universities, our colleges, they are working as a police stations to try to provide as much information as possible.

So it is something that you're seeing changes in, but it also is just a different it's a different entity.

Yeah.

Patricia, if I can stay with you for just a moment, this issue of school shootings is, is very I mean, it's personal for, for all of us, I would say.

But most of us just read about it and the paper, we hear about it on the news.

But you have lived through this because you were at, Marshall County High School at the time of the shooting back in 2018.

So talk to us about how that community is still even grappling with those events.

And what is it that you would like viewers to know about what communities need during those times?

And even after the headline writers are gone and the media coverage has subsided?

Well, I think the first thing that I would tell people is it it's you cannot judge the impact of a school shooting based on the number of fatalities.

Every fatality is terrible.

It's it's a tragedy.

But the impact goes far beyond just that.

The number of students who are injured have lasting or sometimes lasting injuries that have lasting emotional, toll.

You also have the emotional toll that takes on the other students who are in the building.

You have the teachers and the staff that were in the building.

You have the community members that were in that trauma, during that day.

Because trauma has a lasting effect.

It does not.

It does not just go away with time.

People have to learn to adapt to the trauma they feel.

And even if they were not injured, it was that amount of time where they knew their life was in danger.

And then you have the parents who didn't know the safety of their children.

So you have to be, aware that it affects the entire community.

And the trauma is there for everyone.

You you can't just judge it based on fatalities.

You also have to be aware that the community continues to grow.

And, they have to deal with it as they go.

So, there's changes that happened in our lives and, and different changes can affect them in different ways.

Because of this trauma.

When a community is affected this way, they need the support of everyone around them.

The education community in Kentucky was phenomenal, to Marshall County as we went through that, the support we received.

Again, I just I can't say enough how thankful I am for that.

But when a community goes through this, what they need is they need our support.

They don't need anyone, trying to tear them apart.

Separate them.

They need to come together as one and support one another.

Especially when it's in a school building.

They have to build their learning environment back again.

That learning environment was destroyed by that act.

And those administrators and teachers and staff and bus drivers, they have to work to build the learning environment back.

We'll have more from Patricia Greer and John Acres later this week on their efforts to keep Kentucky students safe from kindergarten through college.