The FBI has released photos of a person of interest in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk. 

The FBI’s Salt Lake City office shared the photos on social media Thursday. 

Kirk, the conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed at Utah Valley University Wednesday afternoon during the first stop of his American Comeback Tour. 

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What we know:

A manhunt for the suspect continues today. Two people were detained Wednesday, but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, Utah public safety officials said.

RELATED: What is Turning Point USA? Charlie Kirk’s nonprofit

At a news briefing Thursday morning, authorities said the suspect appears to be college-aged and “blended in” with students on campus. 911 calls released Thursday by the Utah County Department of Public Safety via Broadcastify includes callers describing a person on campus wearing “jeans, black shirt, black mask” and carrying a “long rifle.”

The FBI released the person of interest photos a few hours after the briefing Thursday morning. 

Investigators said they recovered a Mauser .30 caliber bolt-action rifle hidden in a towel in a wooded area near the university campus, along what they suspect to be the shooter’s path as they fled the scene. 

In addition to the spent cartridge recovered in the chamber, officials told The Associated Press that three other rounds were loaded in the magazine. The weapon and ammunition are now being forensically examined by law enforcement at a federal lab for clues that could help identify the shooter or their motive.

The shooter fired a single shot from a nearby building, about 140 yards away from where Kirk was speaking.

What we don’t know:

Authorities haven’t released a motive, but they have said they believe it was a targeted, politically motivated killing. 

What happened?

The backstory:

Kirk was speaking to a crowd of about 3,000 people when a single gunshot was heard and Kirk’s head thrust back as he fell, video shows. Kirk had a security detail and there was a small police presence at the event, but there was no security check for people who attended.

President Donald Trump, who was close with Kirk, said Thursday that Kirk will be awarded a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Kirk appeared alongside Trump on stage at political events, and was also a frequent commentator on cable news. He was the youngest speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention and played a major role in Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. 

In a lengthy video statement released by the White House late Wednesday, Trump, who often launches personal attacks against his political rivals, blamed rhetoric from the “radical left” for Kirk’s assassination and said “demonizing” opponents “must stop now.”