Investigators hunting the gunman who killed Charlie Kirk recovered a hunting rifle with ammunition engraved with “transgender and anti-fascist ideology”, according to an internal law enforcement update.

Authorities believe the sniper fired a single lethal shot at Kirk, 31, the conservative campaigner and Donald Trump confidant, before jumping off a roof overlooking the event at Utah Valley University, and escaping through woodland.

The killing of such a high-profile figure in Mr Trump’s sphere has sent shockwaves through a nation already battered by political violence and divisions.