FBI Director Kash Patel said the «investigation continues» in the search for the shooter.
Key Facts
Patel, who said a “subject for the horrific shooting” was in custody as of 6:21 p.m. EDT, provided an update in a 7:59 p.m. EDT tweet saying the person “has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had earlier said at a press conference that “We have a person of interest in custody,” after Patel had said a “subject” was taken into custody.
Cox said authorities could not provide any further details about the person of interest.
“The only information we have on the possible shooter is taken from closed-circuit TV here on campus,” Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason later added.
“It is security camera footage, so you can guess what the quality of that is, Mason noted, saying the suspected shooter was “dressed in all dark clothing, but we don’t have much better description other than that.”
Cox said he does not believe there is another person involved in the shooting.
Authorities previously took another person into custody, Mason said, “but he was released from custody after we identified that he did not match the shooting suspect—he was not an accurate person of interest,” though he was booked for obstruction of justice
In a post on X, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he spoke with Trump about the shooting and vowed to “bring to justice the individual responsible for this tragedy.”
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Kirk, also confirmed his death to The New York Times.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted after the shooting Wednesday, later noting he ordered American flags to be flown at half-mast until Sunday at 6 p.m.
Utah Valley University confirmed on social media the shooting took place around 12:10 p.m. MDT.
Kirk was “hit and taken from the location by his security,” UVU said after the shooting.
UVU closed its campus and canceled classes after the shooting, instructing students to “leave campus immediately” and “follow police instructions.
