MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We report on the challenge for law enforcement after the murder of Charlie Kirk. Police are searching for the person they suspect fired the fatal shot, and the only description they have is what he was wearing - a black T-shirt, white Converse shoes and a hat with a triangle on it.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Last night, officials shared photos and a new video showing a suspect's apparent escape. You see him leaping from a roof. Utah Governor Spencer Cox asked for anyone who might recognize the shooter to come forward.
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SPENCER COX: We continue to implore the public to support this investigation and come forward with any information. We need as much help as we can possibly get.
MARTIN: With us now is NPR's Bobby Allyn, who's been reporting from Orem, Utah. Bobby, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Hey, Michel.
MARTIN: So you were at the press conference last night on the Utah Valley University campus, and that was where Kirk was killed on Wednesday. What stood out to you?
ALLYN: Yeah. Well, the obvious thing is, it's now almost 48 hours since Kirk's murder and authorities haven't arrested a suspect, right? This press conference, which was very hastily organized - I think we had, like, an hour's heads-up - was essentially a blinking help-needed sign, right? FBI director Kash Patel stood by as state officials played surveillance video showing, as you mentioned, a person in dark sunglasses, a black shirt climb off a roof and flee the scene. Utah Governor Spencer Cox says state and federal investigators are working hard to catch this assassin and hold him accountable, but it does not appear that they have located him yet. Cox says they have, however, received a flood of tips from the public.
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COX: So far, we've received more than 7,000 leads and tips. I would just note that the FBI hasn't received this many digital media tips from the public since the Boston Marathon bombing.
ALLYN: Yeah, and that was more than a decade ago. Now, with this investigation, it appears authorities are going to need the public's help even more. Cox said complicating matters is a surge of online disinformation about the shooting. Some distortions, he says, are even being spread by Russian and Chinese bots. Cox said at the briefing that officials are focused on transparency, but then it was interesting that they did not take any questions.
MARTIN: So you've been talking to people in Orem, which is where you are now - people who attended the Kirk event, people who live there. Can you just describe, like, what's the mood there?
ALLYN: Yeah. Well, after the shooting on Wednesday, the school closed for the week. So it's been pretty quiet, with police tape blocking off portions of the campus that are still considered an active crime scene. There are, of course, gaggles of journalists and TV vans waiting for an update in the investigation. I stopped to talk to Utah Valley University freshman James Jordan (ph), who was walking through campus, and he said he remains pretty rattled.
JAMES JORDAN: The man that did shoot him is still undetermined, and how close we live, he could be anywhere. The other night, we had cops at our apartment just doing their protocol, and it was a little unsettling and not knowing for sure how safe we really are.
ALLYN: While others in the area assume the shooter is long gone from Utah so are not as worried.
MARTIN: So turning back to the investigation, do we have any sense of what the next phase looks like?
ALLYN: Yeah. Well, investigators recovered a rifle and unused rounds believed to be the shooter's. And that's now being forensically examined in a lab, along with palm prints and an impression from the Converse sneakers authorities say the shooter was wearing. Law enforcement gathered this from where the shooter escaped from the roof, right? Investigators will be putting this together with the surveillance footage and any useful public tips they have in hopes of identifying and locating the shooter. State authorities have several times now raised the prospect of this turning into a death penalty case, but the suspect has to be caught before he is prosecuted.
MARTIN: That's NPR's Bobby Allyn. Bobby, thank you.
ALLYN: Thanks, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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