PA MediaThe sniper who assassinated Charlie Kirk is believed to have jumped off the roof and fled after firing a single shot from a high-powered rifle which police recovered from woodland close to Utah Valley University.
The killer is believed to have blended in on the campus where Mr 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.
Later on Thursday, the FBI released two photos of a person of interest in connection with the shooting as investigators appealed to the public for information. The photos show a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt.
It remained unclear how far the killer has travelled though law enforcement officials said nearby woods where the rifle was found have been secured.
PA MediaUtah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed.
Classes were cancelled until further notice.
Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus.
Armed officers walked around the neighbourhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the assailant.
Officers were seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognised a person of interest.
The event, billed as the first stop on Mr Kirk’s The American Comeback Tour, had generated a polarising campus reaction.
An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Mr 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”.
PA MediaThe shooting drew swift condemnation across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Mr Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-mast and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Mr Kirk in decrying the violence.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Mr Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.
The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties.
The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state politician and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April.
The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Mr Trump during a campaign rally last year.
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