Posted: September 10, 2025

Summary

Witness to the shooting discusses her experience.

Description

Tiana Lao was at the scene when Charlie Kirk was fatally shot by an assassin at Utah Valley University.
She says there was no sense of tension before the gunshot, but there was fear and panic in the aftermath.

Transcript

Tiana Lao was at Utah Valley University when the shooting took place and she joins us now from Pleasant Grove in Utah. Tiana, thanks so much for being with us. Hi, thank you for having me.

So where were you when this happened? Yeah, so I was sitting towards the right side, maybe on the third step. It was, yeah, it was packed, but yeah, I was there. And what did you see? So I went there with my friend and it was on the second question was when we heard the gunshot go off.

So during that time, that was when we were looking at the person asking the question. So we didn’t directly see him get shot because everything happened so fast. But we did look up directly at the sky because we thought, OK, maybe it’s a firecracker or maybe it’s a firework that went out.

We didn’t think it was real. But yeah, we eventually started realizing that it was real. And as soon as everyone started ducking down and started screaming, run, run, get down, get down.

And so that was when I started hearing people crying. Everyone was screaming. And so that was when I, me and my friend started rushing back to the doors as well to go back inside the building.

You must have been absolutely terrified. Yes, I was. I mean, my friend and I just started crying.

I couldn’t stop myself from shaking. Like even like three hours in, I just I was uncontrollably shaking. So you were looking at the person asking the question at the time, so you didn’t see where the shot had come from then, Tianna? I do know that it did come from the left side because I mean, that was from friends telling me as well.

But I also believe that we couldn’t really see much either because we did come from the right side of him. So I believe that we didn’t see anything because it did come from the left. And what have the event been like up until that point? What was the atmosphere like, Tianna? I would expect that there would be some sort of tension, but there was absolutely none.

I mean, I thought everyone was peaceful. I know that everyone came from different parts of the political spectrum. I mean, of course, we’re a primarily conservative state.

But I thought that everyone was peaceful. I mean, I didn’t sense absolutely anything. And so it just came as a shock to me once I heard that that gunshot go off.

And we’ve been hearing that that second question that was asked before the shot was fired was about mass shootings. Is that right? Yes, it was. I do remember it did go blank like last minute.

But I do remember that on the second question, he did open up by saying that there was a transgender shooter that occurred and about the Trump administration implementing gun illegalization for transgenders. And that was the last thing that I remember them talking about. And what was security like at the event? There was evidence of police presence.

Did you have to go through security checks? And what was it like? How close did you get to him? Yeah, so supposedly there were supposed to be bodyguards. Right. But and I thought, OK, that’s an exaggeration.

We’re a pretty small university. But of course, I realized, OK, yeah, maybe we do need some safety measures. Of course.

I mean, there was no measures that they took. I love my school. Right.

But I just feel like there should have been some protective measures that they should have taken, like checking people’s bags. They didn’t do any of that. I mean, I walked in and if me and my friend were able to walk in freely, we could bring in anything we wanted.

I mean, anyone could have brought in a gun easily. And yeah, we were pretty close to them. We were on the third step.

And so we did see them clearly. Of course, it was crowded. But yeah.

And Tianan, what was it like afterwards in terms of what the campus being locked down, the search for the shooter? What was your experience of that? It was terrifying. You know, at first I really thought that we were going to be safe because they did say that they had the suspect in custody. And I thought, OK, yeah, for sure that we’re going to be safe.

This was during the time that we were in the classroom. So we were already in lockdown. And it was only until later that I found out that it was not the right suspect, that they actually arrested the wrong person.

So they’re still on the search for it. But of course, school is cancelled now until Tuesday, I believe. So and how are you feeling now? You’re still shaken.

I’m a bit shaken up. I mean, I definitely was a lot worse just a few hours ago. I couldn’t stop crying. I mean, it’s a human life. I saw that right in front of me. And just the thought of seeing him there alive, speaking healthy.

And then all of a sudden, I just saw him dead the next minute. It was just it was terrifying. But I’m a lot better now. And I think I definitely had it better than other people that were more towards the front.