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New Delhi: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday released picture of 'person of interest' in Charlie Kirk's assassination, seeking public's help in identifying the suspect. The blurry security footage shows a man in a black long-sleeve sweatshirt with an American flag, wearing glasses and a hat, and carrying a backpack. “We are asking for the public's help identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University,” the FBI Salt Lake City said in a post on X, attaching the pictures.
The hunt for the gunman intensified on Thursday, with investigators revealing that the suspect was a young man who appeared to blend in with university students before opening fire.
Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, told reporters the shooter was of “college age” and had mingled among students at Utah Valley University, where Kirk, 31, was attending an event on Wednesday. The assassin fired from a rooftop, fatally striking the Turning Point USA founder before fleeing the scene. Authorities believe he jumped off the building and disappeared into a nearby neighborhood, but they have yet to determine how far he managed to travel.
Police later confirmed that a high-powered bolt-action rifle was recovered from wooded ground near the site, and they believe it was the weapon used in the attack. Surveillance footage from the campus has also captured the suspect, with officials saying they have “good video” and images. However, the material has not been released publicly in order to protect the ongoing investigation, according to a CBS report.
“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the FBI’s top agent in Salt Lake City, as quoted by the Associated Press. Bohls added that the bureau had already received more than 130 tips and was “exhausting every resource” to identify and apprehend the shooter.
On the day of the incident, two people were detained on suspicion of involvement, but they were released after investigators found no links to the killing. Law enforcement officials said on Thursday that they were increasingly confident they had tracked the suspect’s movements across the university campus in the lead-up to the shooting.
The assassination has reverberated through U.S. political circles. Former President Donald Trump, a close ally of Kirk, paid tribute to him on X. “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. 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!” Trump wrote. He also ordered all American flags nationwide to be flown at half-mast until Sunday evening and announced that Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
