A medical expert has explained what happened in Charlie Kirk’s body when he was fatally shot in the neck at a Utah university event on September 10. Graphic videos showed the 31-year-old Turning Point USA co-founder clutching his neck as blood poured out before collapsing.

Anatomy teacher Josh Cottle shared on Instagram that the bullet likely wasn’t aimed at Kirk’s neck but drifted: “Either way, it went through the neck. And to the people saying if there had been an ambulance on this scene or he had gotten proper medical care, that the outcome would have been different—that is not the case. He could have been shot in an emergency room and the outcome would have been the same.”

He explained that the neck contains vital arteries and veins supplying the brain: “Severing these with anything is a big no-no in the user’s manual of the human body.” But in this case, the damage came from a high-speed bullet creating a “temporary wound cavity,” violently expanding tissue and destroying the connection between the brain and spinal cord.

Cottle noted Kirk’s final movements showed “decorticate posturing, where your arms involuntarily come up towards your chest.” He clarified this was not him trying to grab the wound but evidence of catastrophic brain injury.

Donald Trump later called Kirk’s death “a dark moment for America,” while Utah’s governor described it as a “political assassination.”