Police and US federal agents on Thursday they had found the bolt-action rifle they believed was used to kill the influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a university appearance in Utah, but were still hunting the shooter.
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Kirk, a 31-year-old podcast-radio commentator and a close ally of US President Donald Trump, is credited with helping build the Republican Party’s support among younger voters. He was killed on Wednesday by a single gunshot in what Utah Governor Spencer Cox called a political assassination.
The killing, captured in graphic detail in videos that rapidly spread around the internet, occurred as Kirk spoke onstage at an outdoor event called “Prove Me Wrong” in front of about 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, about 40 miles (65km) south of Salt Lake City.
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Charlie Kirk, conservative activist and Trump ally, dead after being shot at US college
Charlie Kirk, conservative activist and Trump ally, dead after being shot at US college
The killer arrived on campus a few minutes before the event began, and could be seen on security-camera video ascending stairwells to get onto a nearby roof before firing a single shot, according to the FBI and state officials.
The shooter jumped off the roof and fled into an adjoining neighbourhood, Robert Bohls, the FBI special agent in charge, told reporters. Investigators found a “high-powered, bolt-action” rifle in a nearby wooded area, and were examining that along with palm prints and footprints for clues.
The shooter appeared to be of college age and “blended in well” on the campus, Utah Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason told reporters.
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Kirk, co-founder and president of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, was pronounced dead at a local hospital hours later. His killing stirred immediate expressions of outrage and denunciations of political violence from Democrats, Republicans and foreign governments.