Federal authorities confirmed Thursday that they have recovered the gun used to kill conservative activist Charlie Kirk and are analyzing “good video” of the suspect to identify him, as the manhunt continues for the shooter who remains at large.
Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI Salt Lake City office, revealed during a news conference that the murder weapon is a “high-powered, bolt-action rifle” that was “recovered in a wooded area where the shooter fled” after Wednesday’s attack at Utah Valley University.
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason confirmed that authorities have obtained “good video” of the individual they believe is Kirk’s killer, but they are not making it public for now.
“We have good video of this individual. We’re not going to release it at this time,” Mason said. “We’re working on some technologies and ways to identify this person. If we’re not successful, we’ll turn to you as media outlets and make it public to help us identify him. But we’re confident in our capabilities right now.”
Investigators have made several “breakthroughs” in their hunt for the shooter, according to Mason, who detailed the suspect’s movements. The shooter arrived on campus at 11:52 a.m. local time, climbed onto a roof, made his way to the other side of the building, jumped off the building, and fled into a neighborhood.
The suspect “appears to be college-aged” and blended in well with the campus environment, Mason said. Investigators believe the suspect is male, an FBI official confirmed.
In addition to the rifle, authorities collected a shoe print, a palm print, and forearm impressions that will be analyzed, Bohls said. The FBI has received more than 130 leads that are being"fully investigated."
Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck as he addressed a crowd at a university event. The conservative activist, who co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012, had enormous influence in American politics and used his massive social media audiences to promote anti-immigrant policies, Christianity, and gun ownership.
The attack has raised fears of escalating political violence in the United States. President Donald Trump denounced the killing as “a dark moment for America” and vowed to take action against those responsible, suggesting that radical leftists had contributed to the crime by comparing Kirk to “Nazis and the worst mass murderers in the world.”
Utah's Republican governor, Spencer Cox, called the killing a “political assassination” and said during an emotional press conference, “I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah.”
During the initial investigative process, authorities identified and questioned several persons of interest, but they were released and cleared as suspects. Mason asked the public not to harass these individuals, who have faced threats after being questioned.
“These individuals were not suspects. They were persons of interest,” Mason clarified. “They don’t deserve that harassment.”
Vice President JD Vance has canceled a trip to New York to commemorate the anniversary of the September 11 attacks and will travel to Utah to meet with Kirk's family, according to sources familiar with the plans.
