OREM, Utah — Utah Valley University leadership announced Monday that it has commissioned an independent review with an unnamed third-party organization to gain insight into the on-campus shooting death of Charlie Kirk.
The announcement comes as university leadership faces ongoing questions over security at the Sept. 10 event, in which only 6 school police officers were assigned. In the days after the shooting, school officials have remained mostly silent regarding security and whether more could have been done to protect Kirk and those who attended his speaking engagement.
The identity of the third-party hired by the university has not been released, or whether the review's findings will be shared with the public.
“It won’t just be what happened before. It’ll be what happened before, during and after,” said former Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, who is not part of the third-party organization, of the review.
“No matter how tragic or unfortunate it is, you cannot change the outcome of that day," added former Salt Lake City police chief Chris Burbank, "and so what you want to do is ensure is that tomorrow, it doesn’t happen again.”
Winder expects a comprehensive review will call for someone with a balanced policing background.
“Between local law-enforcement, but also somebody with federal or national level executive protection experience," he said. "It’s a very unique niche in the law enforcement milieu.”
Both Winder and Burbank expect threat analysis and intelligence gathering ahead of Kirk's event to be looked at.
“Did it meet the requirement of the parties involved in the agreement that they signed between one another in order for this individual to come speak?” asked Burbank.
With the case being so high-profile, Winder says it'll be a tough task.
“The emotional nature, the external influences that come to play on this, just make any evaluation difficult and highly scrutinized,” he said.
Multiple requests have been made by FOX 13 News to interview UVU Vice President for Administration and school police chief Jeffrey Long, but none of the requests have been granted.
“We believe the findings of the comprehensive, third-party independent review of this targeted act of violence will offer valuable insights on how college campuses improve response and preparedness moving forward,” said UVU president Astrid S. Tuminez. “We will integrate the findings into our efforts to strengthen and improve safety practices for UVU and all of Utah higher education.”
Years before Kirk shooting, concerns about security at UVU:
Whatever answers are found could come in months, rather than weeks.
“These kinds of evaluations can be extremely valuable, but one hopes that it’s done in the light of that,” added Winder.
FOX 13 Investigates spoke with a former UVU police officer who said during his time at the university, he and his colleagues begged to discuss the possibilities of a school shooting scenario, only to allegedly be told by Peterson, "It’s been 25 years. We haven’t had one and we’re not going to have one.’
Winder hopes a review will be conducted with a forward focus to create a better and safer future on campus.
“We need transparency, we need neutrality," he said, "we need to identify the positives and the negatives," said Winder.
The university also shared that it is forming a committee to develop a memorial in honor of Kirk, co-chaired by Qualtrics co-founder Scott M. Smith and Utah Board of Higher Education chair Amanda Covington. The committee will also include students and political leaders, the school said.
“As a committee, we will listen to community voices and carefully consider the many perspectives surrounding this memorial,” said Covington. “This is an important process, and we are committed to approaching it with thoughtfulness and respect.”
