The FBI said Thursday officials have recovered a high-powered rifle from a wooded area where Kirk’s killer fled.
WASHINGTON — The FBI on Thursday released photos of a person of interest in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Federal investigators have released two photographs of a person they are looking to identify in relation to the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. They are requesting assistance from the public to help in the identification process.
In the photos, a person is seen wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, a dark hat, sunglasses and dark wash jeans.
Officials mentioned earlier that they would not release any visuals of the suspect to the public as they were still exploring other methods to locate him effectively.
The search for the shooter has stretched into a second day after Kirk was killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
The FBI has also declared a $100,000 reward for providing information that would lead to the identification and capture of the person(s) accountable for Charlie Kirk’s murder.
During a press conference on Thursday morning, representatives from the Utah Department of Public Safety and the FBI confirmed that the weapon used in Kirk’s killing had been found in the woods near the university.
Officials also released new details about the shooter, saying he appeared to be a man in his late teens or early 20s.
“(The) suspect blended in well with a college institution,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said. “(He) appeared to be of college age.”
Beau Mason, the Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner, stated that authorities have traced the suspect’s path onto the campus and to the rooftop, from where the fatal shot was discharged. According to Mason, the shooter entered the campus just before noon and navigated through the building’s stairwells to reach the rooftop before executing the shot that killed Kirk.
The shooter then jumped off the building’s roof and fled through a nearby neighborhood.
On Thursday, Mason remarked that investigators have obtained “good video footage” of the suspect but urged the public to remain patient as they work diligently to identify and track the suspect.
“The heinous event that happened yesterday is not Utah,” Mason said.
Bohls told reporters that the suspected weapon, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, was found in the woods by investigators after the shooting.
He said the FBI was confident that the shooter was not hiding in those woods, as agents had walked through and searched them in their entirety.
“This was a targeted event,” Bohls said. “We do not believe the community is at risk.”
The Mauser .30 caliber bolt-action rifle was found hidden in a towel along what law enforcement suspected to be the shooter’s path as they fled the scene, according to information circulated among law enforcement and shared with The Associated Press.
In addition to the spent cartridge recovered in the chamber, three other rounds were loaded in the magazine. The weapon and ammunition are now being forensically analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab for clues that could help identify the shooter or their motive.
As well as photos and videos of the suspect, investigators were able to recover several identifying markings, including palmprints, forearm prints and footprints from the areas the shooter visited.
Officials also asked that the public avoid confronting anybody involved in the investigation, after twice claiming that a suspect was in custody in the hours after the shooting. Two people were detained Wednesday at separate times after Kirk was shot, but both were released.
Officials have said the suspect appeared to have been dressed in an all-black outfit and fired a single shot from a rooftop near where Kirk was speaking.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Wednesday there is no reason to believe there’s a second shooter.
Kirk, a popular conservative political activist and media personality, was at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah as part of his nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA’s “American Comeback Tour.” This was his first stop since resuming the tour.
Trump announced Thursday he’ll posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
JD Vance shuffled his schedule Thursday, nixing plans to attend a Sept. 11 commemoration in New York City and heading instead to Utah, where Kirk, his friend, was assassinated Wednesday. He will fly Kirk’s casket and family with him aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Arizona, where Kirk made his home.
Trump said he remained shocked by the horror of Kirk’s assassination praised his ally’s impact on conservative politics. “Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” Trump said.
Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience members asked. Kirk responded: “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked before a single shot was heard.
Was there security at the event?
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
Campus police say six officers were working the event and undercover police were there too. Kirk had his own security team who worked with local law enforcement on security for the event, according to authorities.
Kirk’s presence caused controversy on the campus recently, with the school paper The UVU Review reporting a petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received hundreds of signatures.
The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Videos posted to social media show the aftermath of the reported shooting with dozens of people fleeing from the campus amphitheater.
Who is Charlie Kirk?
Kirk was a right-wing activist and media personality best known for founding Turning Point USA, a group aimed at promoting conservative political positions on school campuses.
Turning Point USA, and a number of its sister organizations under the Turning Point Brand, are nonprofit groups that work to elect young Republican candidates to office and encourage conservative values in high schools, colleges and in churches.
Kirk became the face of a young Republican movement, supporting grassroots efforts to bring new blood into the party.
The 31-year-old began his political rise in 2012 at age 18 when he was scouted by Tea Party activist Bill Montgomery while speaking at Benedictine University’s Youth Government Day as a high school student. Montgomery convinced Kirk to put off college and pursue activism full time, with the pair launching Turning Point USA shortly after.
Kirk’s outspoken support of President Trump’s policies made him a hero to some young Republicans, and has drawn the ire of Democrats who say he is arguing in bad faith.
He has publicly promoted conspiracies, including falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and boosting unsubstantiated rumors.
A rash of political violence in the US
The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States across all parts of the ideological spectrum.
The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April.
The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Trump survived two assassination attempts in 2024, including one where a bullet whizzed by the then-candidate’s ear at a rally in Pennsylvania. That shooter was killed by a Secret Service sniper as Trump was moved to cover.
Another accused would-be-assassin was arrested by Secret Service agents near where Trump was golfing in Florida shortly after, before any shots were fired.
