Ammunition inside the rifle used to assassinate Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was engraved with messages of “transgender and antifascist ideology,” the Wall Street Journal reported, Thursday, citing a law enforcement bulletin and a source familiar with the investigation.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at an outdoor TPUSA event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday.
Federal investigators recovered the high-powered, bolt-action rifle in a wooded area near the university.
The FBI on Thursday also released photos of a “person of interest” in the murder, as the Bureau continued its manhunt for the killer, appealing to the public for information. According to Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner, Beau Mason, the suspect “blended in” with students on campus. The photos show a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a black, long-sleeved t-shirt that appeared to have a photo of an American flag on it.
The Wall Street Journal’s reporting tracks with what conservative journalist Steven Crowder reported early Thursday.
“This morning my team received an e-mail from officer at ATF,” Crowder posted on X at 7:35 am. He said the email included a screenshot “an internal message describing a weapon and cartridges located by an ATF and other law enforcement near the scene” of the shooting.
The message stated:
“On September 10, 2025, at approximately 12:24PM, Conservative political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at the Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. Mr. Kirk was speaking at the University as part of the American Comeback Tour. Multiple SLC I and III agents responded immediately.
The suspect fired one shot from an elevated position on a rooftop in an adjacent building on the campus and surveillance video shows the suspect, jumping off and fleeing the area on foot. ATF and other law-enforcement located an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the campus.
The location of the firearm appears to match the suspects route of travel. The spent cartridge was still chambered in addition to three unspent rounds at the top fed magazine. All cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology. An emergency trace has been submitted an ATF SLC is working leads generated by the trace.
The firearm and ammunition have been taken by the FBI for DNA analysis and fingerprint impressions. Upon completion of forensics, the firearm will be disassembled for additional importer information. Multiple people of interest having contacted or detained because of eyewitness testimony and review of video footage.
The primary suspect is yet to be identified. ATF is assisting the investigation with multiple other federal, state, and local partners and the case is co-led by the FBI and Utah SBI.”
The suspect was seen on video arriving on campus at 11:52 a.m., moving through stairwells and onto the roof. He fired the shot that killed Kirk at around 12:20 p.m.
Most of the crowd of about 3,000 attendees recoiled in horror and ducked for cover, while small groups of left-wing students reportedly cheered, including one who was photographed.
Countless numbers of leftist social media users have also disgraced themselves by publicly celebrating the assassination.
According to investigators, the suspect later ran across the roof and jumped off the building to flee campus. Investigators have interviewed at least two subjects, but reportedly have no idea where the suspect may have fled.
The suspected gunman was still at large and unidentified as of Thursday morning.
President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday night that his administration will “catch each and every one of those who contributed” to the assassination, as well as any left-wing organizations that have funded and supported political violence.
Trump also ordered flags on public buildings to be flown at half staff Sunday evening, in honor of Kirk.
If the reporting is confirmed, the suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk will be the second leftist madman to have committed murder with pro-trans messages scrawled on his ammo within a month’s time. Robin (Robert) Westman, the trans gunman who opened fire on children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on August 27, wrote messages such as “Where is your God?,” “F-ck everything you stand for,” “Suck on This” and “Kill Donald Trump” on his magazines.
Two children were killed, and 17 were injured in that attack, with at least one, Sophia Forchas, still in critical condition.
The Catholic Church shooting followed a series of other violent transgender attacks in recent years.
In September of 2018, Snochia Moseley, a 26 year old man who they identified as female, shot and killed four people at a pharmaceuticals distribution center in Aberdeen, Maryland.
In May of 2019, Alec McKinney, a then-17-year-old transgender student opened fire at at a Denver-area charter school, killing one student, and wounding eight others.
In March of 2023, Audrey “Aiden” Hale, a 28-year-old female who identified as male, went on a shooting rampage at the Christian Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27, 2023, killing three children and three members of the school’s staff before being shot dead by responding police.
Hale was motivated by an intense, murderous hatred of affluent, white (“cracker”) children, according to a leaked manifesto that was written in a spiral notebook.
In April of 2023, a transgender teenager in Colorado Springs allegedly made threats against various schools in the city, resulting in a first degree attempted murder charge and other related charges.
In January of 2024, a trans or nonbinary student opened fire at a high school in Perry, Iowa, hitting multiple people, before turning the gun on himself. Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger died as a result of his injuries.
In February of 2024, trans-identified shooter Genesse Ivonne Moreno (previously known as Jeffery Escalante) opened fire in a Texas church.
In June 2024, Collin Bailey, a 28-year-old male who identified as female, was arrested in St. George, Utah, after murdering both of his parents.