 "New visuals, but no known identity: Why Charlie Kirk’s killer has not yet been caught")
Twenty-four hours and counting. The manhunt for the person who killed Charlie Kirk, the influential right-wing activist and close aide to US President Donald Trump, is now in its second day. Authorities haven’t been able to identify the shooter yet, but more information about the shocking assassination is coming to light.
Meanwhile, as officials race against the clock to find the suspect, Kirk’s body was flown from Utah — where he was shot dead at the Utah Valley University — to his home in Arizona on board Air Force Two. Earlier, Vice President JD Vance was seen carrying the casket of the rightwing activist on to the plane. Kirk’s widow, Erika, held hands with Vance’s wife as they got off the plane in Arizona.
US President Donald Trump, who previously called Kirk a “martyr”, has urged supporters to respond peacefully to the killing, adding that Kirk had been “an advocate of nonviolence”.
‘College-age’ suspect ran from school into wooded area
It’s been a traumatic day across America — and it all began on Wednesday around 12.20 pm (local time) when 31-year-old Charlie Kirk, who was discussing mass shootings in the US at the campus of Utah Valley University, was shot in the neck by a single bullet.
Witnesses at the scene recount seeing Kirk slumping backward before hit the ground as chaos erupted among the attendees. As one witness Justin Hickens told NBC News, “I saw a bunch of blood come out of Charlie. I saw his body kind of kick back and go limp, and everybody dropped to the ground.”
Following this, authorities launched a door-to-door search for the person behind the shooting, but haven’t been able to narrow down the identity of the individual. However, other details about the person have been released.
Authorities have released images and visuals showing a ‘college-age’ person dressed in a distinctive black T-shirt with an American flag and eagle, Converse shoes and sunglasses. And on Thursday, in a new visual released, the suspect is seen running across the roof of a school building, and eventually going into the wooded area.
The video starts by showing the suspect on the top left corner of a school roof, where the person runs behind an upper portion of the building and to the far-right corner. The suspect then climbs off the building, leaving palm impressions, some smudges that might have DNA and a shoe imprint. Once the suspect gets off the side of the building, the person runs across the grass next to a parking lot and into a wooded area nearby.
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason also told NBC News that authorities have “no idea” whether the suspect in Kirk’s shooting is still in Utah. “We’re exploring leads for individuals that live close by,” he said in the interview. “We literally have persons of interest, tips coming in on the tip line, that are spanning far and wide.”
‘High-powered’ rifle recovered
In addition to releasing visuals of the ‘person of interest’ in the Charlie Kirk killing, officials have also revealed that they recovered the weapon used in what the governor of Utah on Wednesday called a “political assassination”.
According to Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office, the weapon, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, was found discarded in a wooded area near Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, and is being analysed at an FBI laboratory for any clues that can identify the gunman.
As per other officials who spoke to ABC News, the rifle was an older model imported Mauser .30-06 calibre bolt-action rifle that was found wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the school. The sources said a spent cartridge was discovered in the chamber of the gun. Notably, bolt-action firearms are more precise than semi-automatic ones although they have slower rates of fire. It is also noted that this kind of rifle is commonly used by marksmen and hunters.
Apart from the gun, several news outlets have also reported that the ammunition from the rifle were engraved with message of transgender and antifascist ideology. But officials expressed caution due to the preliminary nature of the investigation. A senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told the Times that the report, which the outlet reported was circulated in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), had not been verified by the ATF and that it might turn out to include misreadings or misinterpretations, noting that it differed from other summaries of evidence in the case.
Events leading up to Charlie Kirk’s death
Following the death of Kirk, officials have been able to decipher the sequence of events that led to his death with the help of the “good” footage they were able to find from the event.
Authorities note that the suspect arrived on campus at 11.52 am and then proceeded to travel through the stairwells up to the roof of a building near the where the outdoors event was taking place.
Kirk was hit by a single shot approximately 12:20 pm and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. After the shooting, the suspect travelled to the other side of building, jumped off and fled off-campus into a neighbourhood, Mason said. Officials are working through nearby neighbourhoods, contacting people with doorbell cameras and speaking to witnesses to identify any leads, Mason said.
The FBI has urged the public to come forward with any information with the authorities. So far, the Utah Department of Public of Safety has received 7,000 tips — the largest number the FBI has received since the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
“We will not stand for what happened yesterday. We are exhausting every lead we have, every officer invested in this. Every investigator, every local agency,” Mason said in a press conference.
Brad Garrett, a retired FBI agent, has noted that the evidence painted a picture of a suspect who planned the shooting down to the last detail, including discarding the possible murder weapon along his escape path. “He probably did that (as) he didn’t want to be seen carrying a weapon, running through a neighbourhood, or walking through a neighbourhood,” Garrett told ABC News.
Shock, anger and fear in America
While investigations continue, America remains in a heightened state of emotion. Utah Governor Spencer Cox said officials have been working with attorneys to pursue the death penalty in the case.
“We pray that God will bless our nation at this very dark time, we can start healing by finding this perpetrator and holding him accountable. And we need your help to do that,” Cox said.
US President Donald Trump has urged supporters to respond peacefully, telling reporters that Kirk had been “an advocate of nonviolence”. “That’s the way I’d like to see people respond,” he said.
Meanwhile, conspiracy theories continue to spread around the internet, with calls for vengeance and revenge flooding social media.
With inputs from agencies
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