The owner of a private jet that briefly disappeared from public flight-tracking systems near the site of Charlie Kirk’s killing has identified himself and denied any connection to the shooting, saying the aircraft’s temporary loss from radar reflected routine procedures at non-towered airports.
Businessman Derek Maxfield said the Bombardier Challenger 300 registered as N888KG departed Provo Municipal Airport (PVU) about 1:20 p.m. Mountain Time for Page, Arizona (PGA), landed about 1:55 p.m., then returned to Provo after Maxfield and seven additional passengers boarded for the return leg, departing PGA about 2:40 p.m. and landing at Provo about 3:15 p.m. Maxfield said the airplane was crewed by two pilots during the initial leg and that radar or air-traffic-control services were terminated "in mutual agreement between Denver FAA center and N888KG approximately 10 miles from landing at PGA," which he described as consistent with standard practice at non-towered airports.
Maxfield said in a public statement that he and his wife had decided to speak out to "set the record straight" after social media users and online sleuths linked the flight to the killing. "Any suggestion that the flights by N888KG yesterday are in any way connected to the tragic shooting of Mr. Kirk is inaccurate, false and without any credible basis of any kind," he said. He added that, to his knowledge, no one associated with the flights had been contacted by law enforcement and asked that attention remain on supporting those affected and on law enforcement efforts to find the killer.
Kirk, a conservative activist and commentator, was shot while speaking to an audience at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday. Authorities said he was struck in the throat by a shooter on a nearby roof, was rushed to a hospital and was pronounced dead hours later. Law enforcement released an image of a person of interest showing someone wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeved black shirt.
The jet’s brief disappearance from publicly available radar feeds and its departure roughly an hour after the shooting prompted widespread online speculation that the aircraft provided an escape route for the attacker. The chatter intensified after reports that airspace near the Provo airport had not been closed immediately after the shooting.
Retired FBI agent James Gagliano, appearing on a cable news program, said investigators must consider all possible escape routes and noted that the proximity of the airport was a factor in early investigative thinking. "If you come off that roof, there is an open-air parking lot behind that building, it is spitting distance from I-15," Gagliano said. "Provo Airport is only 45 minutes from there; these are all things you have to consider. This is going to be long and laborious."
Aerospace professionals cautioned that gaps in public radar feeds are not, by themselves, evidence of wrongdoing. Byrson Sullivan, an aerospace engineer, told a national tabloid that many aircraft operate without continuously broadcasting ADS-B transponder data and that some flights routinely turn off public tracking systems, especially when operating to and from small or non-towered fields.
Maxfield, who owns multiple businesses and said the jet is owned by one of his companies, described the online attention as unfair to his family. He expressed condolences for Kirk’s family and called the shooting "horrifying and senseless," urging the public to support law enforcement’s investigation.
Investigators have said they are actively pursuing leads related to the rooftop shooter and reviewing video and other evidence from the scene; authorities have publicly sought assistance identifying the person of interest released in the image. The FBI has urged anyone with information to contact local law enforcement.
As the investigation continues, officials have not publicly linked any aircraft movements to the shooting. Flight-tracking records and Maxfield’s statement establish a timeline for the private jet’s departure and return on the day of the attack, and Maxfield’s account attributes the radar gap to standard procedures at non-towered airports rather than to an effort to evade detection.