FBI releases photos of person of interest in Kirk shooting as investigators appeal to public
OREM Utah AP The sniper who assassinated Charlie Kirk is concluded to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not been identified executives noted Thursday in disclosing they have recovered a high-powered bolt-action rifle they believe was used in the attack and are reviewing video footage of the person they believe was responsible The FBI issued photos of a person of interest in Kirk s shooting as investigators appeal to the inhabitants for tips The shooter appeared to be of college age and blended in on the university campus where Kirk was killed Wednesday announced Beau Mason the commissioner of the Utah Department of Constituents Safety It remained unclear how far the shooter has traveled though law enforcement functionaries say nearby woods where the rifle was identified have been secured Even as law enforcement leaders revealed new details about an attack they called targeted much remained unclear nearly hours later including the sniper s identity motive and whereabouts Two people detained Wednesday were published after neither was determined to be connected to the shooting but by Thursday functionaries expressed confidence they had tracked the shooter s movements on campus in the run-up to it Kirk a close ally of President Donald Trump was killed in broad daylight while speaking about social issues at a Utah Valley University campus courtyard The circumstances brought renewed attention to the escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum The killing drew bipartisan condemnation but a national reckoning over avenues to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive The attack was captured on grisly videos circulating on social media that show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away Trump reported he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom the highest civilian honor in the U S while Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha were set to visit with Kirk s family in Salt Lake City Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship dating back to initial messages in through Vance s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up Trump s second Republican administration Vance wrote So much of the success we ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie s ability to organize and convene Vance wrote He didn t just help us win in he helped us staff the entire ruling body Kirk was taking questions about gun violence Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization Arizona-based Turning Point USA at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus Forthwith before the shooting he took questions from an audience member about gun violence Do you know how multiple transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last years the person questioned Kirk responded Too countless The questioner followed up Do you know how countless mass shooters there have been in America over the last years Counting or not counting gang violence Kirk urged Then a shot rang out The shooter who Gov Spencer Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof particular distance away Madison Lattin was watching a minimal dozen feet from Kirk s left when she heard the bullet hit him Blood is falling and dripping down and you re just like so scared not just for him but your own safety she stated She saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced right away by cries She and others ran A few fell and were trampled in the stampede When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died she wept she mentioned describing him as a role model who had established her how to fight for the truth Trump calls Kirk a martyr for truth About people were in attendance according to a comment from the Utah Department of Population Safety The university police department had six officers working the event along with Kirk s own shield detail leadership stated Trump revealed Kirk s death on social media and praised the -year-old co-founder and CEO of Turning Point as Great and even Legendary Later he issued a video in which he called Kirk a martyr for truth and freedom Utah Valley University announced the campus was evacuated after the shooting and will be closed until Monday Meanwhile armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting Helicopters buzzed overhead Wednesday s event billed as the first stop on Kirk s The American Comeback Tour had generated a polarizing campus reaction An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly signatures The university issued a message last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its commitment to free speech intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue Last week Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking disagreement He wrote What s going on in Utah Condemnation from across the political spectrum The shooting drew swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic administrators joined Trump who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart My deepest sympathies are with his wife two young children and friends explained Gabrielle Giffords the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a shooting in her Arizona district In a joint report the Young Democrats of Connecticut and the Connecticut Young Republicans called the shooting unacceptable There is no place in our country for such acts regardless of political disagreements they disclosed The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June the firebombing of a Colorado parade in June to demand Hamas release hostages and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania s governor who is Jewish in April The the greater part notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a Pennsylvania campaign rally last year Kirk confronted liberals Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in by Kirk then and William Montgomery a tea party activist to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited administration It was not an immediate success But Kirk s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers Despite early misgivings Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in Kirk served as an aide to Donald Trump Jr during the general electoral contest campaign Soon Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV where he leaned into the practices wars and heaped praise on the then-president Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences
