The gunman who killed right-wing activist Charlie Kirk during an event at a college in Utah on Wednesday is still at large, but more information about the shocking assassination is coming to light.
The FBI announced on Thursday that officials had recovered a “high-powered bolt-action rifle” they believe was used in the shooting. “The rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled, and the FBI laboratory will be analyzing this weapon,” FBI Special Agent In Charge Robert Bohls told reporters. Bohls added that the investigators also “collected [a] footwear impression,” as well as “a palm print and forearms imprints.”
Bohls noted that there have been a lot of questions about motive, but could only say that authorities are investigating every lead.
The FBI later Thursday morning posted images of a “person of interest,” asking for the public’s help identifying the individual. The FBI is offering up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of the individual or individuals responsible for Kirk’s killing.
Donald Trump, who announced Kirk’s death on Truth Social, said Thursday morning that he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “Charlie was a giant of his generation and a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” the president said while speaking at a 9/11 memorial event. Trump wrote on Wednesday that he was “ordering all American Flags throughout the United States lowered to Half Mast until Sunday evening at 6 P.M.” The president went on to deliver an address from the Oval Office in which he blamed Kirk’s death on the “radical left.” Several Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators have made similar accusations, despite the lack of information about the shooter or a potential motive.
The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators found “expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology” on ammunition inside the recovered rifle, citing internal law-enforcement bulletin and another source familiar, but The New York Times reported later that the bulletin had not been verified by analysts and did not match other summaries of the evidence.
When asked about the broader investigation on Thursday, Trump said: “They’ve reported to me so far, pretty much what you see on the news is what it is. They have a virtual manhunt out there, so we’ll see what happens. We hope we get ‘em.”
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Kirk was speaking at an event at Utah Valley University when he was hit with a single bullet before being rushed to a hospital. Videos show an individual on the roof of a building around 150 yards away, which the university identified as the shooter’s location, per The New York Times. Kirk was reported to be in critical condition before Trump announced his death on Truth Social around two hours after he was shot, after which it was confirmed by one of Kirk’s spokespeople.
Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, announced later in the day that a suspect was taken into custody shortly after the shooting, but was later released “after we identified that he did not match the shooting suspect and was not an accurate person of interest.”
FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X after the initial suspect was released that the “subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody.” Utah Governor Spencer Cox clarified that another “person of interest” had been taken into custody, separate from the individual who had been taken into custody and released earlier in the day. Patel then wrote in a subsequent post that the second individual taken into custody had also been released.
“The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement,” Patel wrote. “Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency.”The high-stakes manhunt is taking place just weeks after Patel ousted the chief of the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office.
From Rolling Stone US
