Erika Kirk was in attendance as shots broke out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
CNN reported that Kirk, 37, was seen crying as the chaos unfolded at the Washington Hilton in Washington D.C. on Saturday, April 25. CNN’s Sara Sidner said on air that she personally witnessed Kirk leaving the main ballroom, telling aides, “I just want to leave.”
Us Weekly has reached out to representatives for Kirk for comment.
Erika’s husband, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025. He was 31 years old. (It is unclear what the alleged shooter’s motive was on Saturday. According to CNN, a 30-year-old man from California was “apprehended” during the shooting.)
Charlie’s suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler James Robinson, was apprehended on September 11, 2025, and charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. He has yet to enter a plea.
In October 2025, Erika opened up about the very public nature of her grief in the wake of her husband’s murder.
“There is no linear blueprint for grief. One day you’re collapsed on the floor crying out the name Jesus in between labored breaths,” Erika wrote via Instagram at the time. “The next you’re playing with your children in the living rooms surrounded by family photos, and feeling a rush of something you can only attempt to define as divinely planted and bittersweet joy as a smile breaks through your face.”
She added, “They say time heals. But love doesn’t ask to be healed. Love asks to be remembered. It’s humbling to realize that this magnitude of suffering didn’t steal my love for my husband. It amplified it. It crystallized it.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and pregnant White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt were all evacuated from the main ballroom at the Washington Hilton when shots were heard on Saturday night.
A Secret Service spokesperson clarified that the shooting took place near the “main magnetometer” at the Washington Hilton.
Reports suggest that a Secret Service agent was shot but the bullet struck his protective gear. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. His condition is unknown at the time of publication.
Trump, 79, broke his silence via a Truth Social post where he initially expressed his desire for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to continue.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,” Trump wrote. “The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”
Journalist and White House Correspondents’ President Weijia Jiang subsequently announced at the podium that the event would be rescheduled within the next 30 days.
“Law enforcement has requested that we leave the premises. … [The president] wanted to emphasize that nobody was hurt. The cabinet and the first lady, everybody’s safe,” she said. “I said earlier tonight that journalism is a public service because when there is an emergency we run toward the crisis, not away from it … I saw all of you reporting and that’s what we do.”
She added, “Thank God everybody is safe and thank you for coming together tonight.”
