Manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin ramps up with $100K reward offered

FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Utah on Thursday to directly oversee the intensifying manhunt for the assassin who killed conservative influencer and Trump ally Charlie Kirk.

No person was in custody, but authorities suggested they were closing in on somebody when they canceled a late-afternoon press conference “due to rapid developments in our investigation.”

The FBI distributed a grainy photo of a person of interest earlier in the day and announced they had recovered what they thought was the weapon in the case: a bolt-action high-power rifle with a scope and a spent round in the chamber. Mr. Kirk was fatally shot Wednesday with a single bullet as he conversed with students under a canopied seating area on the campus of Utah Valley University.

Frustration mounted Thursday as the day passed without news of an apprehension. The FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. By late afternoon, Mr. Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, were headed to Utah to lead the hunt.

President Trump assured the country that investigators were closing in on the killer.

“They’re making big progress, and we’ll have to see what happens,” he told reporters as he departed the White House to attend the New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers game.

“He’s an animal, total animal, and hopefully they’ll have him and they’ll get him. What he did is disgraceful,” Mr. Trump said of the assassin. “Charlie Kirk was a great person, a great man, great in every way, especially with youth. And what he did, what this man did was disgraceful.”

Investigators said the gunman took the shot from a rooftop 200 yards from where the political influencer was speaking to a crowd of about 3,000 people.

The FBI disclosed new details about the person of interest, described as a college-age man with fair skin. Photos shared by the FBI, which were taken by security cameras just before the shooting, show a man wearing a black long-sleeve shirt with an image on the front of an eagle superimposed over an American flag.

The man was also wearing dark jeans and a dark baseball cap with dark sunglasses. He appeared to be wearing a backpack as he walked up a flight of stairs in the building from where the shots were fired.

The discarded rifle was found in a wooded area near campus, officials said. Leaked emails from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives revealed the gun’s cartridges found alongside the weapon had carved messages relating to “transgender and anti-fascist ideology.” An ATF spokesperson declined to comment on the finding or to verify the leaked emails, citing the ongoing investigation.

Investigators also gathered footwear impressions, palm prints and forearm prints for analysis and new drone footage showed the rooftop where the sniper positioned himself, marked with tape by law enforcement. 

Authorities said the assassin blended in with the college crowd at the university when he arrived at 11:52 a.m. Wednesday, entered a building and accessed a rooftop overlooking the event.

The killer fired a single shot before jumping to another building and running away.

Mr. Kirk died in a hospital a short time later.

Tributes for Mr. Kirk poured forth on television and social media, along with some glee from left-wing social media posters who hated Mr. Kirk because of his political views.

Vice President J.D. Vance, who described himself as among Mr. Kirk’s close friends, arrived Thursday in Salt Lake City to meet with Mr. Kirk’s family and transport his remains aboard Air Force Two to the Kirks’ home in Arizona.

In a lengthy post on X late Wednesday, Mr. Vance shared that Mr. Kirk was one of earliest supporters and confidants when he entered politics in 2021. The two maintained a close relationship throughout Mr. Vance’s ascent to become first in line to the presidency.

“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Mr. Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024. He helped us staff the entire government.”

Mr. Trump said he had a “long talk” with Mr. Kirk’s wife, Erika, on Thursday afternoon and relayed that she was “absolutely devastated.”

He said he would be attending the funeral, which is expected next weekend.