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Featured Image Credit: Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images
Topics: Charlie Kirk, US News, Crime, Donald Trump
Anish Vij
Topics: Charlie Kirk, US News, Crime, Donald Trump
Officials have revealed that they have had a 'breakthrough' in the hunt for Charlie Kirk's shooter.
The right-wing influencer, 31, was speaking at a Utah Valley University (UVU) event to a 3,000-person crowd on Wednesday (10 September).
While Kirk was responding to a question, he was hit by single shot. His security team took him in a private car to a hospital where he was declared dead.
Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said today (11 September) that the FBI has tracked the movements of the shooter and has 'good video footage' of him.
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"We were able to track the movements of the shooter starting at 11:52 am," he said during the press conference.
"This subject arrived on campus shortly away from campus.
"We have tracked his movements onto the campus through the stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof, to a shooting location.
"After the shooting, we were able to track his movements as he moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building and fled, off of the campus and into a neighbourhood."
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Mason noted that the suspect 'appears to be of college age' and that he 'blended in well with a college institution'.
Although they have footage of the individual, the commissioner said they don't plan on releasing it to the public yet.
"We are confident in our abilities to track that individual," he said.
"If we're unsuccessful in identifying them immediately, we will reach out for the public's help and the media's help in pushing those photos."
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The Public Safety official said 'we are doing everything we can to find him' but warns 'we're not sure how far he has gone yet'.
FBI agent Robert Bohls also added that that the force has located the gun used in the shooting.
"I can tell you that we have recovered what we believe is the weapon to be that was used in yesterday's shooting is a high powered bolt action rifle," he said.
"That rifle was was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analysing this weapon."
Following the news of Kirk's death, Donald Trump said the husband and father-of-two was a 'great, and even legendary' figure who was 'loved and admired by all, especially me'.
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In a video message, the US president called it 'a dark moment for America', promising to address 'political violence'.