Bullets recovered after Charlie Kirk’s assassination were engraved with “transgender and antifascist ideology,” a law enforcement source told The Wall Street Journal.
Citing “an internal law enforcement bulletin and a person familiar with the investigation,” the paper reported that the ammunition was found inside a .30 caliber hunting rifle that was ditched in a wooded area at Utah Valley University, where the conservative activist was shot dead as he spoke at an event.
The Journal’s sources said the rifle was wrapped in a towel “with a spent cartridge still in the chamber.” Three unspent rounds were in the magazine, “all with wording on them.”
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The FBI said Thursday that it believes a bolt-action rifle was left in the woods by Kirk’s killer while fleeing through the area. It made no mention of bullet engravings.
No officials have confirmed the Journal’s reporting about engraved casings. A “senior law enforcement official” told The New York Times that the report regarding the casings had “not been verified by ATF analysts, did not match other summaries of the evidence, and might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted.”
The Times noted that status reports are not released to the public because of their volatile nature, with them typically containing “a mixture of accurate and inaccurate information.”
Kirk, 31, had been talking to a crowd of hundreds of students about transgender issues and mass shootings at the time he was struck in the neck by a bullet.
Kirk, a married father of two, was rushed from Utah Valley University to a hospital by a private vehicle. His death was announced by President Donald Trump about two and a half hours later.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the bureau had taken a suspect into custody on Wednesday night but later said the person was not involved and had been released. Kirk’s killer remains on the run, with law enforcement giving no indication they know who the suspect is.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said Thursday that an FBI laboratory will analyze the abandoned weapon. He said investigators also discovered “footwear impressions, a palm print, and forearm imprints” that will be analyzed.
Videos have emerged online of a suspected gunman perched on a roof about 200 yards away from where Kirk was speaking at a campus courtyard. The FBI has confirmed that Kirk’s killer opened fire from a distant, elevated position.
Bohls told reporters on Thursday that the FBI has “images of the suspect” but that he cannot “comment specifically on his face or any details such as that.”
The official added that investigators are “not sure how far” the suspect has gone since fleeing the scene, but noted he fled through a wooded area and into a neighborhood.
Officials have not released any additional details about the killer, including a potential motive.
