The FBI said that it has recovered what is believed to be the weapon used in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative organization of youth activists Turning Point USA, during an event at the University of Utah Valley on Wednesday.
A “high -power bolt action rifle”, which officials believe it was the weapon used in the shooting, recovered in a wooded area near where the shooting took place, according to the special FBI agent of Salt Lake City, Robert Bohls.
Human hunt for the suspect, which is believed to have university aging, continues, with officials who work “throughout the day” to locate the individual, authorities said during a press conference on Thursday.
This Amy King video capture shows the activist and influential youth of the right Charlie Kirk speaking during a public event at the University of Utah Valley minutes before he filmed it in OEM, Utah, on September 10, 2025.
Amy King/UGC through AFP through Getty Images
The FBI requested public advice as human hunting continues for the perpetrator, urging anyone with information, photos or videos of the incident to share it with researchers.
The authorities said they have been able to track the movements of the shooter and have a “good” video video of the person, said the commissioner of the Utah Public Security Department, Beau Mason. Video images will not be released to the public at this time, Mason said.
At 11:52 AM on Wednesday, the suspect arrived at Orem campus and then proceeded to travel on the stairs to the roof of a building near the event where the outdoor event was held, before the suspect shot Kirk, Mason said.
Kirk was beaten by a single shot at 12:20 pm and taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead, authorities said.
After the shooting, the suspect traveled to the other side of the building, jumped and fled outside the campus to a neighborhood, Mason said. The authorities are working in nearby neighborhoods, contacting people with bell cameras and talking with witnesses to identify any potential client, Mason said.
Together with the recovery of the weapon, Bohls said that researchers have also collected a footwear impression, palm printing and forearm footprints for analysis.
The authorities emphasized that the shooting was a “directed” attack and are “exhausting each lead.”
“We will not defend what happened yesterday,” Mason said. “We are investing everything we have in this and we will catch this individual.”
UVU will be closed until September 14, according to a notice published on the University website.
The flowers sit next to the Universidad del Valle de Utah, sign an improvised memorial for political activist Charlie Kirk, on September 11, 2025 in OREM, Utah.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
While the search for the suspect continued, President Donald Trump and the outstanding personalities of Maga sought to link the murder with democratic political rhetoric.
On Thursday, Trump announced that he will posthumously grant Kirk the presidential medal of Libertad, saying he was a “giant of his generation.”
In a video posted on social networks on Wednesday, Trump said: “It is a time that has long been for all Americans and the media for a long time to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom they do not agree with.”
“For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie with the Nazis and the worst murderers and mass criminals of the world,” he added. “This type of rhetoric is directly responsible for terrorism that we are seeing in our country today, and must stop at this time.”
Trump’s son, Eric, meanwhile, told Sean Hannity of Fox News that he was “sick and tired of seeing the bullets, they only go in one direction.”
The Governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, was moved on Wednesday when he delivered a message that mentioned recent attacks against both Democrats and Republicans.
“Our nation is broken,” Cox said. “We have recently had political murders in Minnesota. We had an attempt to murder about the governor of Pennsylvania. And we had an attempt to murder in a presidential candidate and former president of the United States, and now the current president of the United States. Not Kirk
Visit of the controversial campus
Kirk, a father of two 31 -year -old children, was considered a Trump confidant and very influential in the conservative movement of youth.
He founded the Turning Point USA Conservative Group in 2012 at the age of 18, and in the 2024 the elections were accredited with the development of significant support for Trump among young voters.
A drone view shows the scene in which the activist, US right commentator. UU., Charlie Kirk was a deadly shot during an event at the University of Utah Valley, in OREM, Utah, September 11, 2025.
Cheney Orr/Reuters
The Utah event was expected to include a “trying wrong” table, according to the tour website.
Before the visit of the conservative political activist to the University of Utah Valley, some students began an online petition asking the university administrators to prevent it.
Although Kirk’s visit was controversial on the campus, the police were not tracking specific or credible threats before the fatal shooting, they told ABC News, sources of application of Utah’s law.
It was estimated that more than 3,000 people were in the event, according to the University Chief of the University, Jeff Long. There were six police officers, along with Kirk’s private security, according to Long.
A suspect sought
Beau Mason described the shooting on Wednesday as a “directed attack” and said that the scene is a “very large area.”
There is no evidence that someone else has been involved, according to the authorities.
On December 22, 2024, right -wing activist Charlie Kirk speaks on the stage of America Fest 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Josh Edelson/AFP through Getty Images
The Utah Security Department of Security Department said in an update on Wednesday night that two people were initially arrested after the shooting, but then was released.
The first was released and then accused of obstruction by the University Police. The second person was arrested and released after an “interrogation” by the police, the department said.
Utah authorities said “there are no current links with the shooting with any of these people.”
Taxes of both parties
Trump was among those who paid tribute to Kirk.
“The great and even legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump said on social networks. “No one understood or had the heart of young people 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 come out with their beautiful wife Erika and his family. Charlie, we love you!”
“It’s horrible. It’s one of the most horrible things I’ve seen,” Trump told the correspondent of the Washington Chief of ABC, Jonathan Karl.
“It was a great guy,” Trump said. “He was a good man. He was an incredible guy. Nobody likes it.”
Trump ordered that all US flags throughout the country be reduced to the half -mast until Sunday night in Kirk honor.
Cox described the fatal shooting as a “political murder.”
“Those responsible will be fully responsible. Violence does not take place in our public life. Americans of each political persuasion must join to condemn this law,” he said in X after the attack.
The governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, on the left, speaks with the chief of police from the University of Utah Valley, Jeff Long, on the right, in the Keller building on the Campus of the University of the Valley of Utah after Charlie Kirk was shot and died during the tour of Turning Point to the University, on September 10, 2025, in OREM, UTAH.
Hannah Schoenbaum/AP
Vice President JD Vance called Kirk “a genuinely good guy and a young father” while urging the prayers after the shooting.
The conviction came from both sides of the political spectrum.
“There is no place in our country for this type of violence. It must end now,” said former President Joe Biden. “Jill and I are praying for the family and loved ones of Charlie Kirk.”
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrible and this kind of increasing violence cannot afford in our society,” said Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, Democrat, in X.
The fellow Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom in California, said about X that “the attack against Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile and rebuilt. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in all forms.”
ABC News’ Catherine, Ivan Pereira, Lalee Ibssa, Isabella Murray, Katherine Faulders, Jack Date, Chris Looft and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
