Charlie Kirk’s assassin appears to have picked a rooftop from where he could make a quick escape and be “miles and miles away” within minutes, a retired FBI expert said early Thursday.
The sniper — who remains at large early Thursday — fired the single, fatal shot from the top of the Losee Center Building at Utah Valley University, some 200 yards away from where Kirk was seated in a pop-up tent speaking in front of 3,000 people, authorities have said.
“If you come off that roof — and I’ve seen the drone footage of this — there’s an open-air parking lot behind that building,” retired FBI supervising agent James Gagliano told “Fox and Friends.”
“So this is a big concern because this person, within three to five minutes of that shot going off, that person could have been in a vehicle on his way out and miles and miles away,” he said.
“Provo airport’s only about 45 minutes from there,” he said — suggesting that the killer could have quickly escaped Utah, too.
Kirk, 31, was shot in the throat at the outdoor speaking event at the college on Wednesday, sending students screaming and running for their lives as he fell to the ground bleeding.
He was rushed to a local hospital where he died from his wounds, leaving behind a wife and two children.
In the chaos after the shooting, authorities detained two different persons of interest who were subsequently each released.
Despite the complexities of the investigation, Gagliano said he expects law enforcement to have a suspect in custody by the end of the day Thursday as a massive manhunt for the shooter is underway.
Stay up to date on the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk
He also shut down suggestions that the assassination was a “professional hit” but believes it was “absolutely” pre-planned.
“People are suggesting this was a professional hit. And yet from that distance, we’re talking a little over 500 feet, just short of 200 yards, that’s not a tough shot with a rifle, if this suspect had a scope on it’s a very easy shot.”
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