OREM, Utah — A newly-released, independent review of UVU security found inconsistencies in campus safety policies ahead of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
For students who were on campus that day, they say they recall the chaotic nature of the response.
“It was like normal day and then all of a sudden - crazy, hectic, everybody running everywhere,” said UVU junior Sam Lowe.
Lowe says he was in the crowd on September 10th, 2025. He watched from a balcony above the courtyard where Kirk spoke.
"For the rest of the day...your heart’s racing, and that’s all you can think about is just…am I going to be okay?" Lowe said. "Is everyone else going to be okay? You don’t really know what’s going on.”
WATCH | UVU students, safety experts react to independent review of campus security
Lowe described the security around the event as 'fishy.'
“You could tell that officers were coming fast [after the shooting], but leading up to it, I feel like there was nothing,” said Lowe.
The 157-page review found that no UVU employees acted in bad faith.
“No one expected that to happen, so I don’t think there’s any fault with the security," said UVU Freshman Connor Merryweather.
But it laid out 10 different key findings ‘that warrant attention' as UVU looks to strengthen campus safety.
“Every single SWAT operation we did, every single parade we ran — we did a debrief after it was done,” said former SLC Police Chief Chris Burbank.
The findings included that technology should be more effectively integrated into real-time operations, and that emergency messages were among the most visible challenges.
No immediate campus alert was pushed out —- the first alert came 19 minutes after the shooting.
Messages that followed were contradictory, with some ordering students to leave campus immediately, while others said those on campus should remain "secure-in-place" until an officer could escort them.
“That is probably one of the most important takeaways is it was just whoever wanted to comment got the air — and it caused chaos,” Burbank said.
Burbank says that issue went beyond UVU to the federal agencies responding. But he says it shows the importance of a unified command.
“Once you have unified command, then every message, every direction funnels through the command and we all agree, ‘Okay, this is where it is. Do we have anyone in custody? No we do not. Okay, don’t put anything out on that,” said Burbank.
To address that, UVU announced that it’s created a chief public safety officer position to coordinate campus police and emergency response — while also implementing many of the review’s recommendations.
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For those who still have that day on their minds, they hope it can be a positive way to move forward from such a tragic moment in the school’s history.
“It’s going to be hard to make people feel safe again at events, like I still have people talking about it in classes,” said Lowe. "So I think that's the main thing is just... help people feel safe again."
University officials say the chief public safety officer position will be hired later this year.
The university says it’s taking other steps to include more trainings, strengthening event safety and ticketing procedures, and coordinating more closely with external law enforcement agencies.