Charlie Kirk’s assassin remains at large after a person of interest was released from custody — marking the second individual to be detained and let go by police scrambling to find the conservative icon’s killer.
“The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement,” FBI Director Kash Patel shockingly announced Wednesday evening.
Charlie Kirk was gunned down Wednesday during a college campus rally. X/@PassagePress
This map breaks down the area of the shooting. Falon / NY Post Design
A SWAT team member stands between first responders and law enforcement vehicles parked at Utah Valley University, where Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during an event, in Orem, Utah, September 10, 2025. REUTERS“Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency,” Patel added.
Law enforcement’s stunning reversal comes not even two hours after Patel proclaimed in a tweet that Kirk’s killer had been captured — with law enforcement and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox holding a press conference moments later announcing that security footage had led them to a person of interest.
The Post spoke to the mother of the now-exonerated person of interest, who described him as “super shaken” by the gruesome shooting he witnessed firsthand — and then by his subsequent detention.
The cover of the New York Post on Sept. 11, 2025.
Law enforcement prepares to sweep a building at Utah Valley University, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. AP
Former President Barack Obama posts on X after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed by an unknown assailant at Utah Valley University. X/@BarackObama“He’s a great kid,” the mother said.
“I have a picture of him. He’s like 25 feet from Charlie on the other side that he was shot. He sent us a video.”
The man was a Charlie Kirk fan, and had traveled to the Utah Valley Campus on Wednesday — only to watch him violently murdered, and then be blamed for it.
Allison Hemingway-Witty cried after Kirk was shot while speaking. AP
People ran away from the scene after the shooting at Utah Valley University. ZUMAPRESS.com“He was attending like any other college kid. He listens to him,” the mother said.
That person of interest was just the second detained and then released since the 31-year-old was gunned down on the Utah Valley University campus just after noon local time Wednesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson holding a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed by an unknown assailant at Utah Valley University. C-SPAN
An attendee wore a US flag during a candlelight vigil for Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025, in Seattle, Washington. Getty ImagesThe first — an older man seen with his pants around his ankles — was seen being dragged away by cops who told the screaming crowds that the man had confessed.
That individual was also later cleared — which means the person who murdered one of America’s most prominent conservative voices is in the wind.
