Charlie Kirk: Has his killer been caught as FBI share update on Utah University Campus assassination
The sniper who assassinated Charlie Kirk is believed to have jumped off the roof and fled the scene.
That is the latest update from the FBI after Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University campus.
The killer is believed to have blended in on the campus where Kirk was shot and appeared to be of “college age”, police said as they continued to investigate the latest act of political violence in America.
“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.
Federal, state and local authorities said they were working on “multiple active crime scenes” on Thursday in the search for the killer of the conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump.
“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah Governor Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear, this is a political assassination.”
President Trump announced on Thursday he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He said he remained shocked by Kirk’s assassination and 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,” President Trump said.
He announced irk’s death on social media on Wednesday and praised the 31-year-old co-founder and CEO of Turning Point as “great, and even legendary” and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for the killing.
Two people detained on Wednesday but neither was determined to have had any connection to the shooting and both have been released, Utah public safety officials said.
The shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum.
The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans The American Comeback and Prove Me Wrong.
A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his non-profit political organisation.
Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.