Amid conflicting reports, FBI Director Kash Patel said that someone has been apprehended and released following Wednesday’s shooting in Utah that killed Charlie Kirk.
Patel made the announcement via X, at the same time as local and state officials held a press conference in which they suggested that Kirk’s killer is possibly still at large. Utah Governor Spencer Cox went on to say that they have a person of interest in custody.
About an hour later, however, Patel posted on X that the “subject” was released following police questioning.
Graphic video footage showed Kirk, 31, being shot in the neck at Utah Valley College. He was at the university for the first stop of his “The American Comeback” tour, which entails him having political debates with members of the audience.
Utah Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason explained that a man initially detained at the scene was arrested on an obstruction charge. He is not the suspected shooter, nor is he the person of interest, per reports.
Emerging reports indicated that the single bullet was fired from the university’s Losee Center, located 200 yards away from the tent Kirk, 31, was situated under when he was mortally wounded in the neck.
Officials also said there is no indication that multiple culprits carried out the fatal shooting. The shooting occurred about 20 minutes into the event.
Former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz told CNN that Kirk was answering a question about “transgender shootings” and “mass killings” when he was shot.
“When that happened, when that question came out, and he’s you know, he’s going to have the interaction, one shot. I was watching Charlie. I can’t say that I saw blood. I can’t say that I saw him get hit, but I did see him fall immediately backwards into his left,” he said.
Officials urged the public to contact authorities if they had any information about the shooter. Cox called Kirk’s death a “political assisination.”
This story is developing.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Feature Photo: AP/Ross D. Franklin]
