Washington - US right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday at an event at a Utah university in what the governor described as a political assassination.
Authorities had not yet publicly identified a suspect by Wednesday evening, nearly six hours after the shooting. FBI Director Kash Patel said an unnamed "subject" had been detained for questioning and then released.
"Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency," he wrote on social media.
Governor Spencer Cox had said at an earlier press conference that police were interviewing a "person of interest," without providing further details about the person's identity.
At the same press conference, however, Beau Mason, the Utah Department of Public Safety commissioner, said the shooter remained "at large."
Cellphone video clips of the killing posted online showed Kirk, 31, addressing a large outdoor crowd at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, around 12:20 p.m. MT (1620 GMT), when a gunshot rang out. Kirk moved his hand toward his neck as he fell off his chair, sending the attendees running.
In another clip, blood could be seen gushing from Kirk's neck immediately after the shot.
The suspect likely fired from a rooftop at a significant distance, authorities said, adding that there were about 3,000 people gathered at the event.
Jeff Long, chief of the university police department, said that he had six officers working the event, and that he coordinated with the head of Kirk's private security team, which was also on site.
Trump ordered all government U.S. flags flown at half-staff until Sunday in Kirk's honor.
"The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us," Trump wrote on social media.
The killing was the latest in a series of attacks on U.S. political figures, including two assassination attempts of Trump last year, that have underscored a sharp rise in political violence.
