What Charlie Kirk's guards' 'mystery hand signals' looked like, according to veteran cop

On Wednesday (10 September), American activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead during a talk at Utah Valley University.

In the last 48 hours, the FBI in Salt Lake City have been working to track down a 'person of interest' in the shooting, releasing pictures of a man dressed in black, wearing a cap and sunglasses.

A video has also been released, appearing to show a man running across a rooftop, down the side of the building and into nearby woodland, where the FBI discovered the weapon they believe was used to shoot 31-year-old Kirk.

Commissioner Beau Mason said the male suspect 'appears to be of college age' and that 'we are doing everything we can to find him'.

FBI agent Robert Bohls also revealed that they had recovered 'what we believe to be the weapon' used in the shooting - a high powered bolt action rifle.

He added: "That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analysing this weapon."

At the time of writing, the suspect is believed to be in custody.

As the investigation continues, internet sleuths have been examining footage from the event, and people are interested in one clip in particular.

In footage shared online, two men standing behind Kirk shortly before he was struck by the single bullet, seemed to be making hand gestures.

"FBI Director Kash, these 2 men standing behind Charlie Kirk look like they were giving hand signals right before the shot went off, you might want to look into it! GOD Bless and Thank you for all you are doing to help save America," the video was captioned.

In the clip, one man can be seen adjusting his cap, before touching his nose immediately afterwards.

Meanwhile, a second man then steps forward into shot and folds one arm towards the other.

After viewing the footage, several internet sleuths have compared the gestures to military signals, claiming that the men were signalling about a sniper.

One expert has spoken out about the gestures, telling the Daily Mail that they were 'definitely hand signals'.

Stan Kephart, a former California police chief and veteran security consultant, said: “I can tell you from experience - those were definitely hand signals. The way they were done was not casual. It was more than one signal.

“My suspicion is that he’s checking off with somebody else, perhaps a supervisor, saying everything is okay. It doesn’t arouse my suspicions. If he wasn’t okay, or if he had something to say, he would have reverted not to hand signals, but to his communication system.”

Of Kirk's security, Kephart added: “There were only six campus police officers on duty. They are well-trained, but that’s not enough for a 2,000-plus crowd.”

On Friday (12 September), President Trump announced during an interview with Fox News that authorities have who they believe is the suspect in the shooting in custody.

“I think with a high degree of certainty we have him in custody,” he said.

“He's in custody. We worked with the local police, the governor - everybody did a great job.”

Trump continued: “You know, getting somebody that you start off with absolutely nothing - and we started off with a clip that made him look like an ant - that was almost useless.

“We just saw somebody up there. And so much work has been done over the last two and a half days.

“You know, it's amazing really, when you start off with that and then all of a sudden you get lucky, or talent, or whatever it is.”

Trump added that a person 'close' to the shooter 'turned him in' to the police.

The president also said that he hoped the suspect - if found guilty of the crime - receives the death penalty.