Officer Bagley Testimony Reveals Sniper Position Evidence After Charlie Kirk Campus Shooting Incident at UVU
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Officer Bagley Testimony Reveals Sniper Position Evidence After Charlie Kirk Campus Shooting Incident at UVU
Officer Bagley provides detailed testimony about the September 10, 2025 shooting incident at Utah Valley University during Charlie Kirk's campus event. He describes discovering a disturbed gravel area resembling a sniper position on the Losee Center rooftop, with direct line of sight to where Kirk was speaking to thousands of students. The officer details his response to the gunshot, the chaotic scene that followed, and the critical evidence he secured, including a screwdriver, shoe impressions, and surveillance footage showing a suspect fleeing northeast across the rooftop after the shot was fired at approximately 12:23 PM.
Officer Bagley arrived at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025, for a special shift to provide security during a guest speaking event featuring Charlie Kirk. Kirk had arrived on campus behind the west side of the Hall of Flags, where vehicles could drive underneath to access the courtyard area. The conservative commentator set up under a white tent in the courtyard, where he engaged in meet-and-greets, photo opportunities, and answered questions from attendees.
The crowd that gathered was substantial. Officer Bagley estimated several thousand people were present, packed into the amphitheater grass area, standing along cement walkways, and positioned on multiple levels of surrounding buildings including the Sorenson and Woodbury buildings. The atmosphere was that of a well-attended campus event, with students and community members filling every available viewing space.
The Gunshot at 12:23 PM
At approximately 12:20 PM, Officer Bagley was stationed on the south end of the Hall of Flags when he heard Charlie Kirk answering a question from a student. At exactly 12:23 PM, a shot rang out. From his vantage point, Bagley could see the right side of Kirk's shoulder beneath the tent. Immediately after the gunshot, he observed Kirk lean sharply to the left, moving further under the tent toward the north side, disappearing from view.
The crowd's reaction was immediate and chaotic. People began screaming, standing up, and running in all directions away from the tent. Officer Bagley, recognizing the sound as gunfire, left his post and attempted to descend the outdoor stairs between the Fugal building and Hall of Flags. His path was obstructed by panicked attendees running upward and lying on the steps, forcing him to jump over people to reach the ground level.
Initial Assessment and Crime Scene Recognition
By the time Officer Bagley reached the bottom of the stairs, radio communications indicated that a shooter was already in custody. This quick apprehension seemed unusual to him, suggesting the threat must have been at close range. With the immediate danger apparently neutralized, he shifted his focus to assessing injuries and securing the scene.
While canvassing the area, Bagley encountered what appeared to be an injured individual on the second or third tier of the grass amphitheater, near a wheelchair. The person seemed to be convulsing, leading Bagley to initially suspect a gunshot wound. However, after speaking with the individual's father, he learned the person was experiencing a seizure unrelated to the shooting. No other injuries were apparent at that time.
As the crowd began to disperse, Chief Long and Officer Bagley discovered an empty pistol holster lying on the grass. This discovery prompted a critical realization: the sound Bagley had heard was more consistent with a rifle shot than a handgun. Based on his training and experience with firearms, he recognized that handguns produce a short "bang" or "pop" sound, while rifles create a longer, more violent crack or bang. The acoustic signature he had heard was definitely rifle-like, and the sound had come from the east.
Discovery on the Losee Building Rooftop
Looking up from the courtyard, Officer Bagley noticed that the Losee building had a direct line of sight to where the shooting occurred. He immediately proceeded to investigate, entering the Sorenson Center and climbing four flights of stairs to reach the fourth level of the Losee building. From there, he accessed an outdoor public stairway on the south side, in the breezeway between the computer science building and the Losee building, which led to the rooftop.
Officer Bagley reached the rooftop at approximately 12:44 PM. After hopping over the guardrail onto the roof's gravel surface, he noticed an object about 10 to 15 feet to the west that appeared out of place: a red and black screwdriver. He did not touch or disturb this potential evidence.
More significantly, Bagley observed a disturbance in the gravel that immediately caught his attention. The pattern in the gravel resembled what he recognized as a sniper pad or prone shooting position, with visible impressions suggesting where someone had positioned their elbows, knees, and feet. This position was on the southwest side of the Losee building rooftop, providing a direct line of sight to Charlie Kirk's tent in the courtyard below.
Securing the Primary Crime Scene
Officer Bagley immediately secured the southwest corner of the Losee rooftop with yellow police crime scene tape, cordoning off the area around the disturbed gravel and the screwdriver. He placed tape spanning from pipes on the right side of the area, around a silver vent, and back down to the corner to prevent anyone from entering or disturbing potential evidence. He also used the natural barrier of the guardrail, where access to the roof was gained, as an additional secured perimeter.
Before leaving the primary scene at approximately 1:01 PM, Officer Bagley left the rooftop in the care of a female county deputy with explicit instructions not to allow anyone inside the crime scene unless they were police officers or investigators. At this point, the full scope of what had occurred was becoming clearer, but crucial information was still emerging.
Surveillance Video Review
Upon discovering the prone position on the Losee rooftop, Officer Bagley realized that the individual initially taken into custody might not be the actual shooter. He immediately contacted dispatch to review the campus camera system for footage of anyone on the Losee building rooftop during the time of the incident.
Dispatch confirmed that surveillance showed a male individual on the roof at the time of the shooting. The subject's movements were described as running west toward the southwest edge of the building—directly toward the area with line of sight to Kirk's tent—then dropping into what appeared to be a prone position. After the shot was fired, the individual stood up and ran northeast across the rooftop.
Officer Bagley then went to the police department, located on the third level of the Gunther Trade building directly south of the Losee Center, to personally review the footage. This review confirmed the described sequence of events and revealed a critical additional detail: the suspect dropped off the northeast side of the Losee building.
Secondary Crime Scene on Northeast Lawn
With the knowledge that the suspect had fled northeast and dropped from the building, Officer Bagley expanded his crime scene preservation efforts. He responded to the northeast side of the Losee building, where he discovered deep shoe impressions embedded in the grass below where the suspect would have landed after dropping from the roof.
Looking up at the building from this position, Bagley observed fresh scuff marks on the cement edge of the roof that had not been there previously. These marks appeared consistent with someone climbing down or dropping from the rooftop. The shoe print in the grass was notably deep, suggesting significant impact, and the impression continued in a northeast direction.
Officer Bagley secured this secondary scene with additional crime scene tape, creating a perimeter that extended around trees, up beyond the visible area of the northeast lawn, and down to the back side of the LDS Institute building where a sidewalk provided a natural boundary. This prevented anyone from approaching the evidence from that direction.
He assigned two uniformed Utah Valley University police officers to guard this secondary scene with the same instructions: allow no one to enter except law enforcement or investigators. Like the primary scene on the rooftop, Officer Bagley was careful not to walk through or otherwise disturb the shoe impression or any other potential evidence in the cordoned area.
Evidence Documentation
The physical evidence documented from the Losee rooftop painted a detailed picture of what had occurred. The disturbed gravel showed a pattern consistent with someone lying in a prone shooting position, with visible impressions for elbows, knees, and feet oriented toward the courtyard where Charlie Kirk had been speaking. The position was on the southwest corner of the rooftop, providing an unobstructed view west toward Utah Lake, with the Hall of Flags, the white tent, and the amphitheater grass area clearly visible below.
Forensic examiner Melissa Richards later documented the scene with nighttime photography, which revealed additional details. The photographs showed evidence markers placed at key locations, including marker number two at what appeared to be the primary prone position. Additional orange or red triangular markers indicated other points of interest, including what Officer Bagley described as a position "where somebody laid a gun down" toward the far right of the disturbed area.
The measuring tape visible in later crime scene photographs demonstrated the forensic team's efforts to document distances and spatial relationships. The nighttime lighting actually enhanced the visibility of the disturbance in the gravel, showing the length and outline of the prone position more clearly than daylight photographs had captured. Officer Bagley noted that what he observed with the naked eye at the scene was more distinct than what appeared in the daytime photographs, though the nighttime forensics photos did justice to the impression he had seen.
Line of Sight Analysis
The location of the disturbance on the Losee rooftop was particularly significant because it provided a direct, unobstructed line of sight to Charlie Kirk's position. From the southwest corner of the roof, the prone position faced west, looking down at the courtyard approximately four stories below. The white tent where Kirk had been taking questions was clearly visible, as was the surrounding area packed with several thousand attendees.
The Hall of Flags, a prominent campus landmark, was positioned between the Losee building and the courtyard but did not obstruct the view from the rooftop. Behind the courtyard, Interstate 15 was visible, and in the distance, Utah Lake and the mountain range provided geographical context. An LDS temple, lit up and visible in nighttime photographs, appeared in the upper left portion of the western view.
This elevated position would have provided whoever was lying in the prone position with a clear view of the target area while remaining largely unobserved by the crowd below. The fourth-level rooftop of the Losee building was not a typical gathering place, and someone positioned there would have been difficult to spot from ground level during the chaos of the event.
Investigation Command Center
After securing both crime scenes and ensuring they were under guard by law enforcement personnel, Officer Bagley proceeded to the Fugal building, where an incident command center had been established. His purpose was to relay the critical information he had discovered to responding units and commanding officers coordinating the broader investigation.
The evidence Bagley had secured painted a picture of a planned shooting from an elevated position, not the close-range incident initially suggested by the quick apprehension of a suspect. The screwdriver found on the roof, the disturbed gravel showing a prone shooting position, the surveillance footage of a suspect fleeing northeast across the rooftop, and the shoe impressions showing where the suspect dropped from the building all contributed to a more complete understanding of what had occurred during Charlie Kirk's campus event that afternoon.
Court Testimony and Evidence Admission
Officer Bagley's testimony was presented during a preliminary hearing where multiple pieces of photographic evidence were admitted over defense objections. The defense raised concerns about foundation, hearsay, and the presence of evidence markers in photographs that were not present when Officer Bagley first observed the scenes.
The prosecution argued successfully that hearsay evidence is admissible for establishing the foundation of exhibits, citing Utah rules of evidence and State v. Griffin (2016). The court overruled defense objections, noting that at a preliminary hearing, Article 1, Section 12 of the Utah Constitution permits the use of reliable hearsay evidence to determine probable cause, provided appropriate discovery is allowed.
Officer Bagley authenticated multiple photographs by testifying that they were fair and accurate representations of what he observed on September 10, 2025, with the understanding that evidence markers and measuring tape visible in some forensic photographs were added after his initial observations. His testimony established the chain of custody for the crime scenes and documented his efforts to preserve evidence without contamination.
