FBI Investigates Shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University Campus, Suspect Still at Large

[00:02] Last night, I communicated with Erica.

[00:05] That family's devastated.

[00:08] As a commissioner of public safety,

[00:11] as a father, as a husband, I can only

[00:13] imagine what that family is going

[00:14] through.

[00:17] The heinous event that happened

[00:19] yesterday is not Utah. This is not what

[00:22] we're known for. Over the sea past

[00:24] several weeks, we've seen this state

[00:26] come together to help families in

[00:29] mourning. Come together as a community

[00:31] to show what Utah is known for, for a

[00:35] state of of character, of service, of

[00:39] camaraderie, of a of a neighboring

[00:41] field.

[00:44] We will not stand for what happened

[00:45] yesterday. We are exhausting every lead.

[00:48] We have every officer invested in this,

[00:52] every investigator, every local agency.

[00:55] The outpouring of support from the law

[00:57] enforcement community has has been

[00:59] astounding. U we are we are investing

[01:02] everything we have into this and we will

[01:04] catch this individual.

[01:07] Having walked through the crime scene,

[01:08] through the hallways of this school,

[01:10] through the classrooms,

[01:12] I can't imagine what the people on scene

[01:14] felt as well. a horrific event where

[01:17] some of them barricaded in classrooms,

[01:18] some of them ran in fear.

[01:22] Can't over overstate

[01:25] the tragedy and the horrific event that

[01:28] yesterday was and how we will work to to

[01:31] bring to justice the actions of one

[01:34] individual or any other individuals that

[01:36] assisted in that.

[01:38] Our state has gone through a lot and we

[01:40] will come out successful.

[01:42] With that, I'll turn the time over to

[01:44] Special Agent BS. Charge.

[01:49] Good morning. My name is Robert BS and I

[01:53] am the special agent in charge of the

[01:55] Salt Lake field office.

[01:58] Following yesterday's tragic shooting of

[02:00] Charlie Kirk, FBI agents have been

[02:02] working around the clock in coordination

[02:06] with our law enforcement partners.

[02:09] We are and will continue to work

[02:11] non-stop until we find the person that

[02:13] has committed this heinous crime and

[02:16] find out why they did it.

[02:19] This morning, I can tell you that we

[02:20] have recovered what we believe is the

[02:22] weapon to be that was used in

[02:24] yesterday's shooting. It is a

[02:26] high-powered boltaction rifle.

[02:29] That rifle was rec was was recovered in

[02:32] a wooded area where the shooter had

[02:34] fled. So, the FBI laboratory will be

[02:37] analyzing this weapon.

[02:39] Investigators have also collected

[02:41] footwear impression, a palm print, and

[02:44] forearm imprints for analysis.

[02:48] Now, I understand there are a lot of

[02:49] questions about motive.

[02:52] I assure you that all leads, tips, and

[02:55] tips are being fully investigated. As of

[02:58] this morning, we have received more than

[03:00] 130 tips. We thank the community for

[03:02] that.

[03:04] The FBI has brought every resource to

[03:06] bear, and we will continue to do so

[03:08] throughout the course of this

[03:09] investigation.

[03:12] The FBI's mission is to protect the

[03:15] American people.

[03:17] It's to uphold the Constitution of the

[03:18] United States.

[03:20] Any attack on the First Amendment is an

[03:23] attack on the very foundation of our

[03:25] democracy.

[03:27] That is why we will we will relentlessly

[03:30] pursue this case and the shooter until

[03:34] we find him.

[03:37] We also continue to grieve with the

[03:39] family and the community.

[03:43] It's our community.

[03:47] If you have any video or images from the

[03:50] shooting, we ask you to please submit

[03:52] them to our digital media tip website at

[03:55] ww.f fbi.govutah

[03:59] valleyshooting.

[04:01] You can also call the FBI at 1800 call

[04:04] FBI.

[04:06] We truly rely on the public's help in

[04:08] these types of cases and no tip is too

[04:11] small or insignificant. Thank you.

[04:25] about

[04:31] Can you talk to us about

[04:36] a man and also can I ask what the

[04:40] security arrangements?

[04:46] Absolutely.

[04:48] So, what I'll release about the suspect

[04:50] is uh

[04:53] suspect blended in well with with a

[04:55] college institution. Um we're not

[04:58] releasing many details right now and and

[05:00] we we will soon. Um but right now we're

[05:02] not, but that that individual um appears

[05:05] to be of of college age. Um we are

[05:09] confident in our abilities to to track

[05:11] that individual. If we're unsuccessful

[05:12] in identifying them immediately, uh we

[05:15] will reach out for the public's help and

[05:17] the media's help in pushing those those

[05:19] photos. Um that was a new development

[05:21] overnight working through the night

[05:22] studying those cameras. So that's that's

[05:24] something that's new and that we're

[05:26] working through right now. Um as far as

[05:28] the security, I cannot speak to that.

[05:30] Neither the Department of Public Safety

[05:31] nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation

[05:32] was involved in in the planning or

[05:34] security of this event, and that'll have

[05:36] to be a question later for for other

[05:38] agencies.

[05:41] I wanted to ask you, you mentioned that

[05:43] you found the gun in a wooded area. Do

[05:46] you believe that the suspect could be

[05:48] hiding in the woods and is that suspect

[05:51] possibly still in this area?

[05:53] So, that's a good question and it's it's

[05:55] a question that goes to the safety of

[05:57] the community, right? Um, no, not in

[06:00] those woods. We've walked through

[06:01] through those woods and secured it. Um,

[06:03] as to the community, I can tell you that

[06:05] this was a targeted event. Um, we don't

[06:08] believe that the community at is is at

[06:10] risk. However, we are exhausting every

[06:12] resource to find him. Uh, and we will we

[06:14] will do so.

[06:17] The BBC from the images you have, can

[06:20] you see clearly the suspect's face? You

[06:22] said college age from this university

[06:26] and how far do you think he may have

[06:28] gone?

[06:30] So, I can't comment uh specifically on

[06:32] his face or any details such as that uh

[06:35] as it's continuing to be a part of the

[06:37] investigation and and again, we'll

[06:38] release that shortly. Uh however, um

[06:41] we're we're doing everything we can to

[06:43] find him and we're not sure how far he

[06:46] has gone yet, but we will we will do our

[06:48] best.

[06:48] Image of his face.

[06:50] We we have images of the of the suspect.

[06:54] that you've been able to recover. Do you

[06:55] believe you know this person is

[06:59] uh again as part of the investigation?

[07:02] We're not releasing any details such as

[07:03] that right now.

[07:05] DNA.

[07:06] We are we are exhausting all of our

[07:08] resources to be able to collect those.

[07:10] Uh but that's again part of the

[07:11] investigation.

[07:15] Excuse me.

[07:15] You said you found the weapon. Have you

[07:17] been able to own that? We are working on

[07:21] that but again uh part of the

[07:23] investigation that I can't release.

[07:29] Not at all. We've got complete and total

[07:31] support from everyone from the director

[07:34] on down and uh it's it's been an

[07:37] incredible supportive uh environment uh

[07:39] so far.

[07:45] All I can say is that we're working the

[07:47] investigation the best we have in with

[07:49] the environment we're given. So, thank

[07:51] you.