The gunman who shot and killed Charlie Kirk is still not in custody more than eight hours after the assassination.
FBI Director Kash Patel had initially announced Wednesday evening that a “subject for the horrific shooting” was taken into custody and thanked law enforcement for their partnership.
However, more than one and a half hours later, Patel wrote that the subject had been released after interrogation.
“Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency,” he wrote.
A gunman fired a single shot at Kirk as he spoke to thousands of students at a college campus in Utah shortly after noon on Wednesday. The shot was fired from the Losee Center, a building about 200 yards away, a spokesperson from Utah Valley University told The New York Times.
Kirk, 31, was struck in the neck. The Turning Point USA founder died shortly after, President Donald Trump announced.
Law enforcement quickly launched a manhunt for the suspect, with several groups of armed agents making sweeps through the university campus on foot and in trucks, the Times reported.
At a press briefing before Patel’s latest announcement, Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed that a “person of interest” was in custody at a briefing on Wednesday evening. Law enforcement officials caused some confusion at the briefing by saying that the manhunt was still active.
Cox said there was no information that would lead law enforcement to believe that multiple suspects were involved in the shooting, which he called a “political assassination.”
The Republican governor noted that the investigation was ongoing and said, “To whoever did this, we will find you, we will try you and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law.”
He pointed out that Utah enforces the death penalty.
Immediately after the shooting, Utah Valley officials reported that a suspect was taken into custody, but later said that the person was not the shooter.
Utah Valley University police chief Jeff Long said six officers were working security at the Turning Point USA event, which was attended by roughly 3,000 people. He said Kirk also had his own security team.
“You try to get your bases covered, and unfortunately, today, we didn’t,” Long said. “Because of that, we have this tragic incident.”
University spokeswoman Ellen Treanor said only a single shot was fired. No other injuries from the event have been announced.
Videos showed Kirk’s body jolting as soon as the gunshot was heard and blood gushing from Kirk’s neck. Hundreds of students in attendance then scrambled.
Deseret News reporter Emma Pitts told CNN that she saw Kirk “go limp” after the gunshot and that blood began gushing from his neck “immediately.”
“To be perfectly blunt, it felt like so much blood came out of his neck immediately,” she said. “And then we all took to the ground. I can‘t tell you what happened immediately after.”
Kirk was at one point described as being in “critical condition,” but he has succumbed to his injuries. He was married to Erika Kirk, and the couple has two children.
Kirk was speaking about trans issues when he was shot. Videos from the scene show him talking to a large crowd through a microphone as he sat in an outdoor courtyard, under a tent.
Kirk is among MAGA’s most influential commentators. The Illinois native was a featured speaker at a post-inauguration rally for President Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
