 "US right-wing activist and a Trump ally Charlie Kirk was shot dead while giving a speech at the Utah Valley University. File image/AFP")
New details are emerging about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials at a press conference said they had uncovered footage of the person they believed to have killed Kirk. The firearm used to shoot the conservative activist and far-right podcaster has also been recovered.
Kirk, a close ally of United States President Donald Trump, was shot dead at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday (September 10).
The conservative political activist was engaging in question-and-answer sessions as part of his American Comeback Tour when the shooting occured.
President Trump has announced that Kirk will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.
But what do we know? Who killed Kirk? Here are the latest details
How Kirk’s shooting unfolded
Charlie Kirk , 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder, was on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, near Salt Lake City, when the incident happened.
He was addressing a large outdoor crowd while sitting under a tent when he was shot in the neck.
Kirk was responding to a question about transgender mass shooting suspects before he was shot, Andrew Piskadlo, who attended the event, told New York Times (NYT).
Blood oozed out of Kirk’s neck as he fell from his chair, videos showed. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Footage shared online showed chaos breaking out at the campus following the shooting as people tried to take cover and run away. Utah Valley University has closed its campus and cancelled classes until further notice.
Kirk’s killing prompted condemnation from Republicans and Democrats. President Trump ordered that American flags be lowered to half-staff until Sunday evening.
ALSO READ: From John F Kennedy to Charlie Kirk, America’s brush with political violence
What we know about the shooter
Video showed that moments after Kirk was shot, a figure ducked while running across the rooftop of the Losee Center, a building directly opposite to where Kirk was sitting when he was killed. A Utah Valley University spokeswoman confirmed that Kirk’s attacker had fired from the Losee Center. “This shooting is still an active investigation," the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement.
Authorities said they have recovered ‘good footage’ of the suspect who “appears to be of college age” and that the suspect “blended in well with the college institution”. However, the authorities have not released the footage yet.
“We’re not releasing many details right now. We will soon. But right now, we’re not,” Utah DPS Commissioner Beau Mason said. “We’re working through some technologies and some ways to identify this individual. If we are unsuccessful, we will reach out to you as the media and we will push that publicly to help us identify them. But we are confident in our abilities right now.” Mason said the authorities want to “move forward in a manner that keeps everyone safe and moves this process appropriately.”
Mason said the authorities had made a “a few breakthroughs” on the investigation. This includes the time the suspect arrived near the campus, 11:52 am local time, and the suspect’s movements on campus.
The suspect is believed to have used stairwells to get to the roof and then stepped across the roof to the “shooting location”.
The FBI believes that the suspect is a male. The FBI also said it had recovered a “high-powered, bolt action rifle” that was “recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled”. Investigators said they had found “a footwear impression, a paw print and a forearm imprint”.
“Tips are being fully investigated,” Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office said. “As of this morning, we have received more than 130 tips.”
CNN quoted sources in the know as saying that cultural phrases were written on the rifle and ammo retrieved. Authorities are currently analysing the messages in their quest to catch the suspect.
Bohls said the authorities were “exhausting every resource” to find the suspect. He added that they “can’t comment specifically on his face” as the investigation is on. “We’ll release that shortly,” Bohls added. “We’re not sure how far he has gone yet.”
“I can’t overstate the tragedy and the horrific event that yesterday was,” Mason added. He said he spoke to Charlie Kirk’s wife, Erika, last night and that the family “is devastated”.
“I can only imagine what they’re going through,” he said. “This is not Utah. This is not what we are known for.”
Erika, a former Miss Arizona, has her own podcast. She often appeared at events with her husband, where she spoke about the role of Christian faith in their marriage and family. She also has a faith-based streetwear brand and is studying for a doctorate in Biblical Studies at Liberty University.
The shooting was “believed to be a targeted attack” by a shooter from the roof of a building, but no further details can be provided “to protect the integrity of our investigation,” it added.
The shooter fired one shot at one person, the Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said, as per CNN.
Officialsbelieve it was “a targeted attack towards one individual,” he said at a news conference.
Mason said that investigators only have security camera footage to work with right now.
“The only information we have on the suspect, the possible shooter, is taken from closed-circuit TV (CCTV) here on campus. We do have that. We’re analysing it. But it is security camera footage, so you can kind of guess what the quality of that is,” he said.
Authorities can describe the shooter as “dressed in all dark clothing,” he said.
Kirk was fired at from a long distance, “potentially from a roof,” Mason added.
Has Charlie Kirk’s shooter been caught?
Soon after the shooting, university officials said a person had been taken into custody. Utah Governor Spencer Cox initially told media that police were interviewing a “person of interest”. However, Mason told the press conference that the perpetrator remained “at large.”
Two people who were considered suspects in Kirk’s shooting were later released as neither has “current ties to the shooting,” the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement, as per CNN.
One of the persons, identified as George Zinn, was booked and accused of obstruction of justice.
The other person, who the FBI director, Kash Patel, initially identified as the “subject for the horrific shooting,” was also “released after an interrogation by law enforcement.”
“Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency,” Patel wrote in a post on X.
The police did not reveal why these persons were being considered as suspects in the shooting.
“There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter,” the Utah Department of Public Safety, which is leading the investigation along with the FBI, said.
The motive behind the killing remains unknown so far.
Trump earlier described Kirk’s death as a “dark day for America”, blaming rhetoric from the “radical left” for causing political violence.
“I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah. Charlie inspired millions and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror,” the US president said in a four-minute video from the Oval Office.
“This is a dark moment for America,” he added
With inputs from agencies