OREM, Utah (AP) — A palm print. A shoe impression. And a high-powered rifle found in a wooded area. Those are among the clues authorities laid out as they pleaded for the public’s help to find the person who assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk before dropping from a Utah university campus roof and vanishing.
The search continued early Friday, nearly two days later.
Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday released a series of photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was hit as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem.
More than 7,000 leads and tips have poured in, officials said. But authorities have yet to name a suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.
“We cannot do our job without the public’s help,” Gov. Spencer Cox said during a Thursday evening news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel, who did not speak.
The direct appeals for public support, including new and enhanced photos of a person in a hat, sunglasses, a long-sleeve black shirt and a backpack, appeared to signal law enforcement’s continued struggles. Two people who were taken into custody shortly after the shooting were determined not to be connected.
Other clues included a Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle found in a towel in the woods. A spent cartridge was recovered from the chamber, and three other rounds were loaded in the magazine, according to information circulated among law enforcement and described to The Associated Press. The weapon and ammunition were being analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab.
Officials are offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Cox said he’s prepared to seek the death penalty.
By Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Jesse Bedayn and Hannah Schoenbaum
