High-powered rifle found after Charlie Kirk shooting

Utah public safety chief says investigators have 'good video footage' of suspect

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WASHINGTON - Investigators have recovered the weapon that was used to kill US conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Robert Bohls said on Sept 11, describing it as a high-powered rifle that was found in a wooded area where the shooter had fled.

Mr Kirk, an influential ally of US President Donald Trump, was fatally shot on Sept 10 while speaking at a Utah university, sparking a hunt for a lone sniper who the governor said had carried out a political assassination.

Mr Beau Mason, Utah's public safety chief, said investigators also had "good video footage of this individual", but that they would not release it while they are working to identify the suspect through facial recognition technology.

The shooting happened at midday at Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah, during an event attended by 3,000 people.

The lone perpetrator suspected of firing the single gunshot that killed Mr Kirk, 31, apparently from a distant rooftop sniper's nest on campus, remained "at large", said Mr Mason at a news conference four hours later.

State police issued a statement on the night of Sept 10 saying that two men had been detained and one was interrogated by law enforcement, but both were subsequently released.

"There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals," the statement said. "There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter."

In a video message taped in the Oval Office and posted to his Truth Social online platform, Mr Trump vowed that his administration would locate the suspect.

"My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organisations that fund it and support it," he said.