The man taken into custody in connection with the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Wednesday has been released, after the FBI admitted that they had detained the wrong individual for a second time.
The search for Kirk’s killer remains ongoing, with federal agents and local police scouring the Salt Lake City area.
“The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X Wednesday evening, only a little over an hour after he had first declared that “the subject of the horrific shooting” was under arrest.
“Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency.”
The mistaken arrest followed an earlier incident in which officers handcuffed, then freed, an older man who appeared in viral social media footage being led away from the Orem campus shortly after the shooting.
Officials said the second man was targeted after investigators reviewed campus surveillance video.
He was noted to be dressed in dark clothing, according to police.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox described Kirk’s slaying as a “political assassination” and emphasized that the state’s harshest punishment remains on the table.
“I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty in the state of Utah,” Cox said.
Authorities believe the gunman fired a single round from a distance of about 200 yards, striking Kirk as he sat beneath a canopy.
The school confirmed the shot was fired from a building across the quad, and investigators believe the shooter used the roof as his vantage point.
The mother of the wrongly arrested second suspect said her son was a dedicated fan of Kirk’s and had been positioned only about 25 feet away from him at the time of the deadly shot.
“He’s super shaken,” the frantic mother told The NY Post, saying she had spoken with her son after the chaos but did not realize he had been detained.
“He’s a great kid… I have a picture of him. He’s like 25 ft from Charlie on the other side that he was shot. He sent us a video. He was attending like any other college kid.”
Kirk, 31, was struck in the neck around 12:20 p.m. Wednesday while speaking at the campus south of Salt Lake City.
Disturbing videos online appear to show movement on the rooftop immediately after the fatal shot, as students and attendees ducked for cover below.
Police have not said whether they recovered a firearm from the scene.
The sniper-like position reinforced authorities’ suspicions that the killing was a premeditated act.
Law enforcement also clarified that a circulating clip of an older man being taken away on campus was misleading.
The man in the video reportedly told officers he had shot Kirk, but investigators later ruled him out as a suspect.
Kirk was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and underwent surgery, but he did not survive.
President Trump personally confirmed the tragic news on TruthSocial.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump said of Kirk, who leaves behind a wife and two young daughters.
Terrifying footage from the event — where Kirk was fielding questions from students challenging his views — showed him reeling as a lone gunshot rang out.
The fatal bullet was fired just after he had been asked about transgender mass shooters.
Kirk built his reputation by energizing young Republicans through his influential organization, Turning Point USA, which was known for its aggressive outreach on college campuses.
{Matzav.com}
