People attend a vigil at Orem City Center Park after US right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, an ally of US President Donald Trump, was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem on September 11 2025.
Image: REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
US 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 US 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".
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 though they have slower rates of fire.
Bohls, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City field office, said the weapon was being analysed at an FBI laboratory for clues about the shooting and the suspect.
Three law enforcement officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the New York Times the recovered gun was an older model Mauser rifle. Other US media outlets also cited sources saying 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 the suspect used is commonly used by marksmen and hunters.