The manhunt continues for Charlie Kirk’s killer Thursday after investigators revealed a high-powered, bolt-action rifle was recovered in a nearby wooded area, and the suspect appears to be of “college age.”
Few details emerged about the assassination of the right-wing activist and youth organizer, 31, who was fatally shot in the neck during an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University in Orem Wednesday.
Ammunition inside the rifle was engraved with messages of transgender and antifascist ideology, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a law enforcement bulletin and source familiar with the investigation. The Independent has contacted the FBI and Utah Department of Public Safety for further information.
Video footage of the suspect is being analyzed, who “appears to be of college age” and “blended in” with students on campus, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner, Beau Mason, said. Investigators are also working from a palm imprint, forearm imprints and a “footwear impression” of the suspect.
The suspect was seen on video arriving on campus at 11:52 a.m. From there, the gunman moved through stairwells and onto the roof, the shooting location, investigators said. He was then seen moving across the roof and jumping off the building to flee campus.
Kirk was hit with a single bullet at around 12.20 p.m. as he responded to an audience question about mass shootings involving transgender people in front of a 3,000-strong crowd in the college’s outdoor amphitheater.
Here is everything we know about the shooting and manhunt so far:
How the shooting unfolded
Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was hosting a student-sponsored event with his organization, Turning Point USA, on Wednesday afternoon at Utah Valley University in Orem, a suburb of Provo, Utah.
The conservative media personality was on the first stop of a tour of college campuses, dubbed the “American Comeback Tour”.
Around 12:20 p.m. a single shot was heard ringing out. Numerous social media clips captured Kirk’s body convulsing and blood spurting from his neck. The large crowd appeared momentarily stunned and then people began ducking down, running and screaming.
Kirk was lifted up by his security team and rushed to a waiting SUV. He was later declared dead from hospital.
Kirk leaves behind his wife, Erika Lane Kirk, and their two young children.
What we know about the suspect
The shooting suspect is still at large and few details have been revealed.
At a press conference Thursday morning, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Robert Bohls, said the shooting was a “targeted event.”
Authorities recovered the weapon used in the attack — a high-powered, bolt-action rifle that the gunman left in a wooded area.
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said
The suspected shooter arrived on campus just before noon Wednesday, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said.
Authorities were able to track his movements after he jumped from a building, moved through stairwells and fled the campus into a nearby neighborhood. Investigators have gone into the neighborhoods to collect any doorbell cam footage available of the suspect.
“We do have good video of this individual,” Mason said.
The suspected killer also “appears to be of college age,” and “blended in” with the students on the campus, Mason added.
Officials have asked the public to share any more videos or images that may help identify the person. Authorities declined to say whether that includes images of his face.
Mason urged the public to avoid harassing two persons of interest who were detained in the immediate aftermath of the shooting but later released.
“These people were not suspects, they were people of interest,” Mason said. “They don’t deserve that harassment for being subject to that.”
One of the two people detained was an older man seen in photos that circulated online shortly after the killing. Officials said he had been charged with obstruction by university police. The other man had been initially described by the governor as a “person of interest” but was also let go.
Orem Police, Utah Valley University Police, the FBI, and the Utah Department of Public Safety all sprung into action in the moments after the shooting to carry out an active manhunt in search of the killer.
The shooter wore dark clothing and fired from “some distance away,” Mason said on Wednesday.
“This is a political assassination,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said, adding that the person responsible will be held accountable.
“I want to make it crystal clear to whoever is responsible … and we will hold you accountable to the full extent of the law,” Cox continued. “And I want to remind you, we still have the death penalty here.”
Utah Valley University’s campus will remain closed through Sunday, September 14, and all classes have been canceled until further notice, the university said.
Who is Charlie Kirk?
Kirk was the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, which is present in over 3,500 high schools and college campuses, with over 250,000 student members nationwide, according to its website.
He formed the group in 2012 when he was 18 years old and emerged as an influential voice among Trump’s supporters with an audience on his social media channels and streaming video networks that reach millions of followers.
Kirk used his influence to campaign for Trump in the 2024 presidential election, and he spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer.
His organization arranged transportation for Trump supporters to protest the 2020 presidential election result in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.
Last year, Andrew Kolvet, a Turning Point USA spokesperson at the time, said Kirk never advocated violence.
“Charlie wants to save America with words, persuasion, courage and common sense,” Kolvet said, per NBC News. “The left is desperate to conjure up some Christian boogeyman that simply doesn’t exist. We’re telling churches: Either get involved and have a say in the direction of your country or you’ll leave a void that someone else who doesn’t share your values will fill.”
Utah college campus event was ‘met with divided opinion’
Kirk was hosting his organization’s “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot. The Utah college campus was the first stop on the tour, which was set to make stops at campuses across the country this fall.
The event had been met with divided opinions on campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures.
The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Political figures unite in condemning violence – but blame also cast
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” President Trump wrote announcing Kirk’s death on Truth Social.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
He later said in an Oval Office address that he was “filled with grief and anger.”
“Charlie inspired millions, and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror.”
Trump blamed “those on the radical left” for comparing “wonderful Americans” like Kirk to “Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals.”
“This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Political figures from the right and left condemned the shooting.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom described the incident as “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.”
“In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form,” Newsom wrote on X.
Former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “deeply disturbed” by the shooting.
“Let me be clear: Political violence has no place in America,” Harris said. “I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.”
GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson said: “We ask everyone to pray for him and his family … This is detestable what has happened. Political violence has become all too common in American society, and this is not who we are.”
He later said on CNN there’s a “desire” in Congress to have more security after Kirk’s shooting.
Former President Barack Obama added: “We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy.”
MAGA tributes pour in
Members of the Trump family and other prominent MAGA figures spoke kindly of Kirk, both in a professional and personal sense, on X.
First lady Melania Trump wrote, “Charlie’s children will be raised with stories instead of memories, photographs instead of laughter, and silence where their father’s voice should have echoed. Charlie Kirk’s life should serve as a symbolic reminder that compassionate awareness elevates family, love, and country.”
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said Kirk was “like a little brother to me.”
“Rest in peace, brother. You will be missed more than words can ever say — but your legacy will never be forgotten and we will keep fighting the good fight,” he wrote.
Eric Trump, the president’s other adult son, wrote: “Charlie Kirk was an incredible patriot — brave, tough as hell, and a dear friend to our entire family.”
“In his honor, all @Trump properties will fly their flags at half-staff,” he said.
Vice President JD Vance said, “If you actually watch Charlie’s events—as opposed to the fake summaries—they are one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right. He would answer any question and talk to everyone.”
“Charlie Kirk was a loving husband and father who inspired young people across America to get married, have children, end abortion, and live boldly for God,” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, wrote.
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said, “Our hearts are shattered.”
“America has lost one of its greatest champions. A loving family has lost the most extraordinary husband and father. All of us must now dedicate ourselves to defeating the evil that stole Charlie from this world.”
Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican and friend of Kirk’s, said on CNN: “ I’ve dealt with a lot of death in my life. This one hurts … This hurts because it was so senseless. It was just because someone disagreed with you politically.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
