No shooter in custody after Charlie Kirk killing as ‘investigation and manhunt’ continue, Utah law enforcement says

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A search is ongoing as Utah state law enforcement officials confirmed late Wednesday that no suspected shooter was in custody after political commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon on Utah Valley University’s campus.

Two people were initially taken into custody, according to a Utah Department of Public Safety news release, but “there are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals,” the release said.

“There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter,” according to the release.

The two people taken into custody Wednesday included 71-year-old George Zinn, who was arrested on suspicion of obstruction of justice. The other, according to DPS, was released after law enforcement interrogation.

DPS in its release said the shooting is believed to be a “targeted attack.”

“The shooter is believed to have fired from the roof of a building down to the location of the public event in the student courtyard,” DPS said. “Any additional clarifications cannot be provided to protect the integrity of our investigation.”

[Read more: In Utah, Charlie Kirk shot and killed during college appearance]

Anyone with information about the shooting can share it with the FBI through a digital tip line specifically created for this case.

The mayor of Orem late Wednesday met uncertainty with assurance, saying there did not appear to be an active threat to the community despite no suspected shooter being in custody.

“Whoever did this, this is very focused,” Mayor David Young said of the fatal shooting. “It was very specific.”

The mayor late Wednesday urged residents to remain cautious and report anything suspicious to Orem police at 801-229-7070. Despite law enforcement presence and apparent property searches that stretched beyond UVU’s campus Wednesday afternoon, the city did not issue a shelter-in-place order.

Young said he was supposed to be at Kirk’s speech Wednesday, but ended up having another commitment and ultimately didn’t go. He said he was shocked by the shooting — what he said is now one of the most significant events in the city’s history.

“It’s so polar opposite from what Orem is, and so it’s just this huge darkness that gets inflicted on our communities,” Young said. “It’s terrible. It’s devastating.”

During a news conference in Orem on Wednesday afternoon, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called the shooting a “political assassination.”

“I want to make it crystal clear right now 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,” Cox said. “And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah.”

Beau Mason, the commissioner for the Utah Department of Public Safety, said during the same afternoon news conference that the only information investigators had on the “possible shooter” at the time was “taken from closed-circuit TV here on campus.”

“We do have [video] that we’re analyzing,” Mason said, “but it is security camera footage, so you can kind of guess what the quality of that is. We do know [the person was] dressed in all dark clothing. We don’t have a much better description.”

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that his office was working closely with local, state and federal partners. That includes Utah Attorney General Derek Brown and the United States Attorney’s Office.

“The Utah County Attorney’s Office is committed to bringing those responsible for this tragedy to justice,“ Gray said in his statement. ”We express our deepest concern for Charlie Kirk, his family, friends, and the many others who were impacted by this horrific event."

Utah Valley University announced at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday that campus had been cleared and will otherwise remain closed through Sunday before reopening Monday.

In Provo, Brigham Young University officials shared in a statement that campus security at the private religious school owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is “closely monitoring the situation.”

“At this time, the BYU campus remains open, with an increased police presence on campus,” officials said.

The city of Orem said in a statement Wednesday that it was “devastated” by the shooting.

“This type of violence should never happen anywhere, let alone in our community,” the statement read. “This is in direct opposition to our values, which include family, unity, respect and faith. We are praying for Charlie and his family at this time.”

In a post on the city’s official Facebook page, Orem officials also said a farmer’s market and concert originally scheduled for Wednesday night had been canceled.

Kirk was shot Wednesday during an appearance on campus. Both local and national officials called for prayers for the commentator, and President Donald Trump posted soon after that Kirk had been killed.

Some residents and event attendees told The Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday afternoon that they had seen law enforcement seemingly searching the area near UVU in the hours following the shooting.

Former state Rep. Phil Lyman, a one-time GOP gubernatorial candidate, shared a video of what appeared to be a group of law enforcement officers searching the yard near a home where Lyman said he was sheltering after the event.

Lisa Thornton, who lives in Salt Lake County, said some people had sheltered at her mother’s house near the campus.

Once people including Lyman had arrived at her mother’s home, she said, she looked outside and saw a “big group of people,” maybe more than 100, in what appeared to be military uniforms. She said they ran up the street in a line.

Another person in the home, Shaner Broderick, said he saw the same group.

“I saw easily over 100 men, totally dressed all the same in the green army uniform, in single file, running up the hill,” he told The Tribune.