The killer of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk used a high-powered rifle to fire a single bullet from a rooftop before fleeing into an adjacent neighbourhood, police said Thursday.
The day after Mr. Kirk was gunned down at a public event in the quadrangle of Utah Valley University, authorities were still hunting for his killer. But they said video footage showed the sniper appeared to be a university-aged man and they were confident that he would be identified.
“We will catch this individual,” Beau Mason of the Utah Department of Public Safety told a news conference.
Mr. Mason said police were using technological tools to try to determine who the shooter was and would only release the footage publicly if they were unable to identify the suspect themselves.
Mr. Kirk was shot dead in front of about 3,000 people as he took part in a debate with audience members, part of one of his regular tours of university campuses. The 31-year-old, a married father of two, was the head of right-wing youth group Turning Point USA and a high-profile ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Mr. Mason said that the shooter arrived near the campus, in the Salt Lake City suburb of Orem, at 11:52 a.m., used stairwells to access the roof of a building and then got into position to fire the shot. After the shooting, the killer crossed the roof and jumped off the side of the building, Mr. Mason said, before fleeing into a neighbourhood. Mr. Mason said officers had canvassed the neighbourhood.
Trump ally Charlie Kirk assassinated
On Wednesday, 12:20 local time, U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead while speaking at an event attended by about 3,000 people at Utah Valley University.
Losee Center: Video posted online appears to show a person on the roof about 130 metres away
Staircase gives access to roof
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS;
GOOGLE EARTH; REUTERS
Trump ally Charlie Kirk assassinated
On Wednesday, 12:20 local time, U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead while speaking at an event attended by about 3,000 people at Utah Valley University.
Losee Center: Video posted online appears to show a person on the roof about 130 metres away
Staircase gives access to roof
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS;
GOOGLE EARTH; REUTERS
Trump ally Charlie Kirk assassinated
On Wednesday, 12:20 local time, U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead while speaking at an event attended by about 3,000 people at Utah Valley University.
Losee Center: Video posted online appears to show a person on the roof about 130 metres away
Staircase gives access to roof
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS; GOOGLE EARTH; REUTERS
Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City office, said police had recovered the murder weapon, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, in a wooded area. He said police also have a print of the shooter’s footwear, a palm print and a forearm imprint.
He said the shooter would have “blended-in well” with university students because he appeared to be of about the same age.
Mr. Bohls said the motive for the shooting was still uncertain, but that investigators would “find out why he did it” when they locate a suspect. “I understand there are a lot of questions about motive,” he said.
U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk in the crowd shortly before he was shot at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday.Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribu/Reuters
Police arrested two “persons of interest” in the aftermath of the shooting, but released them both after determining they were not the shooter.
Mr. Mason said the body of Mr. Kirk, who was pronounced dead in hospital after being driven there by private vehicle, would be released to his family on Thursday.
Mr. Trump announced on Thursday that he would posthumously award Mr. Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Who was Charlie Kirk? What to know about the Trump ally shot dead in Utah
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty, and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” the President said at the Pentagon, during a memorial ceremony for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In an Oval Office video late Wednesday, Mr. Trump vowed to crack down on the “radical left” as a result of the shooting.
“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity, and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund and support it,” he said.
Mr. Trump did not specify who specifically he planned to target.
An attendee of the event at a Utah university campus where Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday, said “there wasn’t any security checkpoints.”
The Associated Press