Charlie Kirk Gunman Still At Large After Two Initial Suspects Cnbc

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 18, 2025, 1:20 PM

charlie kirk gunman still at large after two initial suspects cnbc

A manhunt for the killer of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk expanded late Wednesday, after authorities said two people who were detained and questioned about the shooting had been released because they did not... Kirk was assassinated earlier in the day by a gunman as he spoke to a crowd of several thousand people at Utah Valley University in Orem. "We initially took in George Zinn as a suspect. He was later released and charged with obstruction by UVU police," the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a bulletin released late Wednesday. "A second suspect, Zachariah Qureshi, was taken into custody and released after interrogation with law enforcement," DPS said. "There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals," they added.

"There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter." Police barricades and tape is set up at Utah Valley University a day after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, in Orem, Utah, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Two people who were detained and later released following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk faced a number of threats and scrutiny even after police said they were not suspects, police said Thursday. “These individuals were not suspects.

They were people of interest,” Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said. “They don’t deserve that harassment.” Both the FBI and the state’s public safety department issued a joint statement Wednesday night with the full names of both people, saying they were initially taken in as suspects. FBI special agent in charge Robert Bohls holds a news conference regarding the shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Thursday,, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Charlie Kirk’s assassin remains at large after a person of interest was released from custody — marking the second individual to be detained and let go by police scrambling to find the conservative icon’s... “The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement,” FBI Director Kash Patel shockingly announced Wednesday evening. “Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency,” Patel added. Law enforcement’s stunning reversal comes not even two hours after Patel proclaimed in a tweet that Kirk’s killer had been captured — with law enforcement and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox holding a press conference moments later announcing that security footage had led them to a person of interest. The Post spoke to the mother of the now-exonerated person of interest, who described him as “super shaken” by the gruesome shooting he witnessed firsthand — and then by his subsequent detention.

• Charlie Kirk, a conservative US political activist and campaigner for President Donald Trump, has been fatally shot at an event at Utah Valley University. • The shooter – who is still at large – is believed to have fired once from a nearby roof in a “targeted attack,” according to the Utah Department of Public Safety, which is... • A manhunt is underway. Two people who were considered suspects were later released, the department said. • There has been an outpouring of condemnation from both sides of the aisle. Trump described Kirk’s death as a “dark moment for America” and blamed rhetoric from the “radical left” for causing political violence.

• As Trump remade the Republican Party over the past decade, Kirk embodied the GOP’s newfound populist conservatism in the social media age. Trump has credited Kirk with galvanizing and mobilizing the youth vote for him. A manhunt is underway in Utah for the gunman who fatally shot Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist who was making an appearance on a college campus when he was... The identity of the shooter and what motivated the gunman to carry out the assassination is still unknown. The FBI on Sept. 11 released surveillance images of a "person of interest," showing a person wearing a black shirt, jeans, a baseball cap and sunglasses.

The bureau asked for the public's help in identifying the person captured on camera. At a news conference, officials said they recovered a bolt-action rifle used in the shooting and tracked the suspect's movements before and after the incident. The shooter remains at large and appears to be of "college age," said Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason. "We are investing everything we have to this and we will catch this individual," Mason said. Kirk, 31, was among the country's most prominent youth political activists and was a close ally of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. He made a name for himself as a talented and sometime provocative orator, drawing large crowds at college campuses where he hosted "Prove Me Wrong" debates.

Kirk played a key role in Trump's growing popularity among young conservative voters. Erika Kirk escorted her late husband's casket back to their home in Arizona aboard Air Force Two Thursday with Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance. FOLLOW LIVE: Trump Says Charlie Kirk Shooter Is in Custody President Donald Trump has said he plans to attend Charlie Kirk's funeral. Trump also said that the authorities were making "great strides" in their manhunt for Kirk's shooter. Investigators found a weapon in the woodland area through which the person of interest in the shooting of Charlie Kirk had traveled as they fled the scene.

That weapon—not yet confirmed to be the one used to kill Kirk with a single fatal shot—is a Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle that was wrapped in a towel. Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of the city where a vigil was held Wednesday night. It has been corrected to Orem, Utah. We regret the error. LATEST UPDATES: Authorities search for Charlie Kirk’s shooter Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a single shot in a targeted attack during an outdoor event Wednesday at Utah Valley University, authorities said.

Kirk co-founded the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and was a close ally of President Donald Trump. WATCH: Prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk killed at event in Utah Officials released new video of the person of interest on Thursday night. A suspect has been arrested in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials announced Friday. Tyler Robinson, a Utah native, was identified as the person who shot and killed Kirk on Wednesday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at a press conference in Utah on Friday.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," Cox said at a press conference Friday. Robinson, 22, has been booked into the Utah County Jail. Charging documents against Robinson are expected to be filed early next week, Cox said.

Charlie Kirk Gunman Still At Large After Two Initial Suspects Cnbc

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