The FBI has released new footage showing a suspected gunman climbing off a roof moments after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah.
The press conference on Thursday, local time, came in the wake of images released of a “person of interest” in connection with the incident.
The FBI released vision of the shooter. (Supplied: FBI Salt Lake)
Utah Governor Spencer J Cox told reporters that the state is making preparations to pursue the death penalty for the person found responsible for Mr Kirk’s murder.
He also said that state and federal authorities have received more than 7,000 tips from members of the public looking to assist the investigation into the killing, and more than 200 police interviews have already been conducted.
“This is not just a local matter here in Utah. We have people all over the country helping to bring this perpetrator to justice for Charlie Kirk and his family,” Mr Cox said.
“There is a lot of forensic evidence that is being processed right now — both at the state lab and federal labs on the east coast.”
Mr Cox also issued a warning to people speculating about the killing on social media, saying that authorities have tracked an increase in the sharing of disinformation from within the US and abroad.
“What we’re seeing is our adversaries want violence, we have bots from Russia, China, all over the world that are trying to distil disinformation and encourage violence,” Mr Cox said.
FBI releases CCTV images of man in search for Charlie Kirk’s killer
Earlier on Thursday, US investigators said they had found a bolt-action rifle, believed to have been used to kill the conservative activist, in a wooded area.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said investigators were analysing “footwear … a palm print and forearm imprints”.
Investigators also released multiple images of the suspected gunman wearing dark clothing, a black baseball cap and sunglasses.
Beau Mason, the commissioner at the Utah Department of Public Safety, earlier said that investigators believed the gunman “blended in” and “appears to be of college age” in those images.
Mr Kirk, a 31-year-old author, podcast host and close ally of US President Donald Trump, helped build the Republican Party’s support among younger voters.
He was killed on Wednesday by a single gunshot as he gave a talk at a university in Utah in front of 3,000 spectators, in what Mr Trump called a “heinous assassination”.
Officials said the shooter arrived on the campus a few minutes before the start of the event, and security camera videos showed a person going up stairwells to get onto a roof before firing at Mr Kirk.
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The FBI has offered a $US100,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest.
Mr Trump met with Mr Kirk’s wife on Thursday and told reporters she was “absolutely devastated”.
He said investigators were making “big progress” towards finding the killer, who he described as a “total animal”.
US Vice-President JD Vance and his wife Usha accompanied Erika Frantzve, the wife of Charlie Kirk, on an Air Force Two flight that was carrying Kirk’s coffin to Arizona. (Reuters: Thomas Machowicz)
Speaking at a Pentagon memorial service to mark the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mr Trump announced he would award Mr Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He praised Mr Kirk as a “giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people”.
Vice-President JD Vance on Thursday escorted Mr Kirk’s coffin onto Air Force Two from Salt Lake City to Phoenix.