Vice President J.D. Vance walked alongside the casket of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as it was loaded onto Air Force Two on Thursday evening, escorting the body from Salt Lake City to Phoenix amid an ongoing federal and local manhunt for the person who fatally shot Kirk at a Utah college event.
Kirk, 31, was killed Wednesday while speaking at an outdoor Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. President Donald Trump said he expects to attend a funeral planned for next weekend, and Vance has paid public tribute to Kirk as a close friend. Kirk’s widow, Erika Frantzve, their two young children and other family members were on the flight to Arizona.
Authorities have released images of a person of interest and appealed to the public for tips, saying the suspect blended in with the college crowd. The FBI posted two photos Thursday showing an individual wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeved shirt bearing a bald-eagle-and-flag motif. Federal officials announced a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to an arrest and identification. "We truly rely on the public's help in these types of cases. No tip is too small or too insignificant," FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said.
Investigators said the fatal shot struck Kirk’s neck while he was taking questions from the audience at the event, and that the suspected shooter may have fired from an elevated position roughly 200 feet away near the Losee Center. Law enforcement recovered bullets and, according to a memo reported by the Wall Street Journal, a Mauser rifle whose components were marked with references to transgender and antifascist ideology; a rifle was later located in a wooded area near the campus. Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said the suspect appears to be of college age.
The shooting set off a chaotic response at the Orem, Utah, campus, with event attendees fleeing and law enforcement rapidly searching the scene. Multiple people were briefly detained in the hours after the shooting; one man seen in viral footage, identified as 71-year-old George Zinn, was arrested after footage showed officers taking him into custody and telling onlookers he had said he shot Kirk. Authorities later announced Zinn was not a suspect in the killing and released him on other charges. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill described Zinn to local media as a longtime political gadfly with a history of arrests and disruptive behavior at public events.
Zinn was booked on an obstruction charge following the incident at the university, according to law enforcement. Reporting on his past shows a string of trespassing arrests and a 2013 conviction in which he threatened to bomb the Salt Lake City Marathon; he served about a year in jail for that offense. Prosecutors have in the past recommended mental health treatment for Zinn, court records and local reporting indicate.
National Guard members carried Kirk’s mahogany casket on and off the plane in Phoenix, where the body was transported to Hansen Memorial Chapel. A video of the deplaning showed Second Lady Usha Vance walking with Erika Frantzve; the two women were dressed in black as they stepped from Air Force Two. Vice President Vance, who has spoken publicly about his longtime friendship with Kirk, accompanied the procession.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox described the killing as politically motivated and noted the state’s death penalty remains an available legal option. Investigators said they are continuing to review photos and video from the event and canvass the area for additional evidence. The FBI has asked the public to submit tips, photos and video through an online form or to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Authorities have not released the identity of any suspect and have cautioned that the investigation remains active. The U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI and local law enforcement continue to coordinate on the probe. President Trump told reporters he had spoken with Kirk’s wife and described her as "devastated," and he said his administration would seek to find and bring Kirk’s killer to justice.
Kirk founded Turning Point USA and was a prominent figure on the conservative movement's youth circuit. The shooting and subsequent search for the person responsible have drawn national attention, with federal authorities expanding the investigation beyond local leads and offering the reward to encourage public cooperation. Funeral arrangements are expected to proceed next weekend in Arizona, officials said, while the search for the shooter continues.