Charlie Kirk assassination: 'Subject' questioned and released after Utah campus shooting, Patel says

Authorities questioned and released a person of interest in the shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in Utah Wednesday afternoon, according to state and federal officials. Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, died from his injuries sustained while speaking at Utah Valley University.

"The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement," FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X Wednesday. "Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency."

Police in Utah have ruled out two persons of interest by name after questioning and releasing them following the assassination — George Zinn and Zachariah Qureshi.

"There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals," the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement Wednesday evening. "There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter."

CHARLIE KIRK, TURNING POINT USA FOUNDER, DEAD AT 31 AFTER UTAH CAMPUS SHOOTING

Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox vowed to bring the killer to justice.

"I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this, we will find you," he told reporters earlier. "We will try you, and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law. And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah."

The FBI is asking for tips on Charlie Kirk's assassination to be submitted here.

The school had more than 46,000 students as of last fall. Campus authorities ordered a lockdown, had been escorting people to safety and were urging anyone still on school grounds to call them to be escorted to safety. They later announced an "all-clear," but said the school would remain closed for at least the next few days.

CHARLIE KIRK SHOT AT UTAH EVENT

Orem authorities put a shelter-in-place order in effect until evacuations were complete. An organizer for the event told Fox News Digital many businesses in Orem and Provo were either closed or on lockdown.

A single gunshot rang out around 12:20 p.m. local time, a school spokeswoman said, about 20 minutes into a speech from Kirk on campus.

Graphic video shows he was struck before panic ripples through the large crowd in attendance, with people screaming and running for cover. Other videos appear to show someone moving on the rooftop of a building across from where Kirk was fatally struck.

An event organizer told Fox News Digital that 1,400 people RVSP'ed for the event. The organizer said that many people came from out of the state to see Kirk speak.

"We had a speaker, Charlie Kirk, who was invited by a student group, Turning Point USA, who was speaking on campus today at noon," Traenor said in a statement. "At about 12:20 shots were fired from a building about 200 yards from the speaker. To the best of our knowledge, the individual was hit and was taken away immediately by his security personnel."

Authorities locked down the campus and canceled classes for the rest of the day. They told people on school grounds to shelter in place and said they were going door-to-door to escort people off campus. Roads in and out were closed.

"On behalf of Utah Valley University, we are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk," UVU President Astrid Tuminez said in a statement Wednesday evening. "We express our sincere condolences to the Kirk family. We grieve with our students, faculty, and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy."

She said Kirk had been invited to speak by Turning Point USA's UVU campus chapter.

"We firmly believe that UVU is a place to share ideas and to debate openly and respectfully," Tuminez said. "Any attempt to infringe on those rights has no place here. We do not condone any form of violence at UVU and seek to make our campus a safe place for all."