By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. investigators said on Thursday they had found a bolt-action rifle believed to have been used in the politically charged fatal shooting of influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, a 31-year-old author, podcast host and close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, helped build the Republican Party’s support among younger voters. He was killed on Wednesday by a single gunshot as he gave a talk at a university in Utah in what Trump called a “heinous assassination.”
BOLT-ACTION RIFLE
The weapon recovered by investigators was described by FBI official Robert Bohls as “a high-powered, bolt-action rifle.” It was found in a wooded area near the shooting site in Utah.
Bolt-action weapons are more precise than semi-automatic ones although they have slower rates of fire.
Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office, said the weapon was being analyzed at an FBI laboratory for clues on the shooting and the suspect.
MODEL
Three law-enforcement officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the New York Times that the recovered gun was an older-model Mauser rifle. Other U.S. media outlets also cited sources to say it was an imported Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle.
Several cartridges, including a spent round in the rifle’s chamber, were also found by investigators, the Times reported. The kind of rifle that the suspect used is commonly used by marksmen and hunters.
ENGRAVINGS
People familiar with the investigation told Reuters that apparent engravings on the ammunition found so far and their meaning were still being analyzed by authorities.
DETAILED PLANNING
Brad Garrett, a retired FBI agent, said the evidence investigators have shared so far painted a picture of a suspect who planned the shooting down to the last detail, including discarding the possible murder weapon along his escape path.
“He probably did that (as) he didn’t want to be seen carrying a weapon, running through a neighborhood, or walking through a neighborhood,” Garrett told ABC News.
In a press briefing late on Thursday, officials released a video showing the suspect climbing off the roof of a building, crossing a street and moving into a wooded area near the campus, which is where authorities said they found the weapon used in the shooting.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Paul Thomasch and Lincoln Feast.)
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