- 4 months ago
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, everyone. I'm Bo Mason, Commissioner for the Utah Department of Public Safety.
00:21To date at approximately 12.20 Mountain Standard Time, political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot at an event at the Utah Valley University.
00:33He was taken by a private vehicle to Timpanogos Hospital, where he later passed.
00:40The Utah Department of Public Safety will be co-leading this criminal investigation to find this killer, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
00:48We were working in unison with the county sheriff's office, the local police department, and the university police department,
00:55all of which have been very cooperative and fully engaged in this process.
01:01Shortly after the shooting, we did have a suspect in custody, George Zinn, but he was released from custody after we identified that he did not match the shooting suspect and was not an accurate person of interest.
01:14However, he has been booked into the county jail by Utah Valley University Police Department for obstruction of justice.
01:24We do still have an active investigation for the person of interest.
01:29This incident occurred with a large crowd around. There was one shot fired and one victim. While the suspect is at large, we believe this was a targeted attack towards one individual.
01:44This is a tragic moment in our state and in our country. As we heal, we encourage everyone who is struggling with news of the incident to call 988, our state mental health crisis line.
01:57In addition to that, our partners with the FBI will also be discussing other ways we can communicate through the public for tips and other information. Thank you.
02:07Good afternoon. On behalf of the FBI, we extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Charlie Kirk.
02:22Our thoughts are also with the people who witnessed this traumatic event. We know that what you experienced was very difficult. Our thoughts are with you as well.
02:34As soon as we heard about the shooting, special agents and personnel from the Salt Lake Field Office responded immediately.
02:41We have full resources devoted to this investigation, including tactical, operational, investigative, and intelligence.
02:49To be clear, the FBI will fully support and co-lead this investigation alongside with our partners.
02:55We are working on setting up a digital media tip line, and as soon as it's established, we'll get that information out to everyone.
03:02I know there's a lot of questions. This is very much an active case, and this investigation is in its early stages.
03:09We are following all the leads and all the evidence. If anyone has any information, please report it to the FBI or local law enforcement. Thank you.
03:21On behalf of President Tumenes, who we've been communicating with, and she's on her way back right now, I say that on behalf of Utah Valley University, we are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk.
03:34We express our sincere condolences to the Kirk family. We grieve with our students, faculty, and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy.
03:44He was invited by the student group Turning Point USA to speak on our campus.
03:49We firmly believe that UVU is a place to share ideas and to debate openly and respectfully.
03:56Any attempt to infringe on those rights has no place here. We do not condone any form of violence at UVU and seek to make our campus a safe place for all.
04:11Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us on this dark and tragic occasion.
04:17I want to thank our law enforcement officers who are leading this investigation, starting with Chief Long and his response here with the UVU Police Department.
04:29We're grateful for your leadership and your team.
04:33And again, to the speakers that you've just heard from who are co-leading this investigation.
04:39I also want to recognize Sheriff Mike Smith, who has been an invaluable partner as this investigation moves forward.
04:48I've been in touch with President Trump, with FBI Director Kash Patel.
04:54We are completely aligned with our state and federal partners as we work through this case.
05:01Now, this is a dark day for our state.
05:07It's a tragic day for our nation.
05:10And I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.
05:18We are celebrating 250 years of the founding of this great nation.
05:27That founding document, the Declaration of Independence.
05:32That this great experiment on which we embarked together 250 years ago.
05:37That we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.
05:41The first one of those is life.
05:44And today, a life was taken.
05:51Charlie Kirk was first and foremost a husband and a dad to two young children.
06:05He was also very much politically involved.
06:10And that's why he was here on campus.
06:14Charlie believed in the power of free speech and debate to shape ideas and to persuade people.
06:26Historically, our university campuses in this nation and here in the state of Utah have been the place where truth and ideas are formulated and debated.
06:37And that's what he does.
06:39He comes on college campuses and he debates.
06:44That is foundational to the formation of our country.
06:48To our most basic constitutional rights.
06:52And when someone takes the life of a person because of their ideas or their ideals, then that very constitutional foundation is threatened.
07:07Now, we have a person of interest in custody.
07:11The investigation is ongoing.
07:14But I want to make it crystal clear right now.
07:18To whoever did this, we will find you.
07:23We will try you.
07:25And we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law.
07:30And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah.
07:35Our nation is broken.
07:48We've had political assassinations recently in Minnesota.
07:57We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania.
08:03And we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate and former president of the United States and now current president of the United States.
08:16Nothing I say can unite us as a country.
08:20Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken.
08:23Nothing I can say can bring back Charlie Kirk.
08:28Our hearts are broken.
08:30We mourn with his wife, his children, his family, his friends.
08:36We mourn as a nation.
08:39If anyone in the sound of my voice celebrated even a little bit at the news of this shooting,
08:49I would beg you to look in the mirror and to see if you can find a better angel in there somewhere.
08:58I don't care what his politics are.
09:02I care that he was an American.
09:04We desperately need our country.
09:13We desperately need leaders in our country.
09:15But more than the leaders, we just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be.
09:27To ask ourselves, is this it?
09:32Is this what 250 years has wrought on us?
09:36I pray that that's not the case.
09:39I pray that those who hated what Charlie Cook stood for will put down their social media and their pens and pray for his family.
09:54And that all of us, all of us, will try to find a way to stop hating our fellow Americans.
10:03With that, we're happy to take a few questions.
10:06The FBI director is posting that a suspect is in custody.
10:11I would just like clarification.
10:12Do you or do you not have a suspected shooter in custody?
10:15We have a person of interest in custody that is being interviewed right now.
10:18That is not George Zinn?
10:21That is not George Zinn.
10:22That is correct.
10:23Are you still searching or looking for another shooter or anybody else related to this?
10:30Yes.
10:31We are actively looking for anyone and everyone who has any possible information relating to the shooting.
10:38Can you tell us details about the suspect being taken into custody?
10:41Where?
10:42How long ago?
10:44We cannot at this point, but we will get you that information when we can.
10:49Is there believed to be a second individual involved in the shooting?
10:54At this point, there is no information that would lead us to believe that there is a second person involved.
11:00Can you guys talk about the possible shooting?
11:03Do you want to talk about what we know there?
11:09The only information we have on the suspect, the possible shooter, is taken from closed circuit TV here on campus.
11:17We do have that.
11:18We are analyzing it.
11:19But it is security camera footage so you can kind of guess what the quality of that is.
11:26But we do know dressed in all dark clothing.
11:30But we don't have a much better description other than that.
11:33Where did the shot came from?
11:35The shot came from here on campus, from a location.
11:40From a roof?
11:43Potentially from a roof, yes.
11:45A longer distance shot from a roof.
11:48So to clarify, with the security camera footage you have and the person interested in custody, does that match up?
11:54That's what we are trying to decipher right now.
11:56Did FBI or DHS have anything on the threat board this morning?
12:00I can't speak to that.
12:02I'll just say that the investigation is ongoing.
12:05And as soon as we have further information, we will be sure to release it.
12:08Any indications of foreign intelligence involvement?
12:11As of now, I can't comment on any of that.
12:14Can you talk a little bit about the security of the event itself?
12:16But who is there security wise and what happens on these kind of events?
12:21So my name is Jeff Long.
12:24I'm the police chief here at UVU.
12:26And I'll tell you right now, we are devastated.
12:28We're a small police department.
12:30We have a very large campus.
12:32We have over 40,000 students.
12:34And we love our students.
12:35We love our visitors.
12:36And we're devastated by what happened today.
12:38This is the police chief's nightmare.
12:40I'm very saddened for the Kirk family.
12:44I know his wife and parents found out about this.
12:50You know, obviously he's away from home.
12:51He's here in Utah.
12:52They find out by a police officer that visits their home.
12:56That's tragic.
12:57Nobody wants that.
12:58But I can tell you about our venue today.
12:59This was an open venue.
13:00This is outside.
13:01We did have six officers working that event.
13:04We had probably over 3,000 people that were in attendance.
13:08It sat down in kind of a bowl area here on the central campus.
13:12We have a waterfall area.
13:14And so he was kind of in a lower area surrounded by buildings.
13:19You know, we had some plainclothes police officers that were in the crowd as well.
13:25You know, we trained for these things.
13:27And you think you have things covered.
13:30And, you know, these things, you know, unfortunately they happen.
13:35You try to get your bases covered.
13:37And unfortunately today we didn't.
13:39And because of that we had this tragic incident.
13:42So we did have officers there.
13:44We had Charlie Kirk's team.
13:46He has a security team that travels with him.
13:48And they were here with him when he was shot.
13:51Was the gun recovered?
13:53I'm sorry, see?
13:54Was the weapon recovered?
13:56At this point, I can't disclose that.
13:59When Charlie Kirk was shot, there was a question being asked about mass shooting.
14:03Was that person apprehended?
14:05And do you know who asked that question?
14:07Say the question again.
14:08I don't know if I understand what you're saying.
14:10When Charlie Kirk was shot, he was answering a question about mass shootings specifically.
14:14Was that person apprehended?
14:16And do you know who asked that question?
14:19I do not.
14:20We do not have that at this moment.
14:22Ladies and gentlemen, we have time for just one more question.
14:26So, thank you.
14:27Yeah.
14:28I have a question for the chief as well.
14:30Was it your team or Kirk's team or a combination of both that kind of set the security protocol for the event?
14:37So, we work together.
14:39You know, he has his team.
14:40And they do this all over the country.
14:41We all know that.
14:42This is not uncommon for them.
14:44They're very comfortable on campuses.
14:46And I was coordinating with his lead security guy.
14:49And so, yeah, we were working together.
14:52Was this a strong shooter type shot?
14:55Ladies and gentlemen, those are all the questions that will be answered today.
14:59Again, thank you for covering this.
15:02We will be updating you as soon as we have additional information through normal channels, working with law enforcement.
15:10Again, our deepest condolences to the Kirk family and to the students who were there today.
15:19And I would just ask everyone everywhere to please pray for their family and pray for our country.
15:27We need it now more than ever.
15:29To our media partners, we will be sending a release out with updates through one channel of information, whether it's DPS or FBI.
15:48So please make sure that you fill out the Google form with updates specific to this incident.
15:55Thanks for all your help, man.
16:05Yep.
16:06I think this is ours.
16:10I think this is ours.
16:27Watch your step.
16:40And so we believe right now from what's been happening as far as what they were able to tell us, they do have a person of interest in custody.
16:49They also have another person that they're looking at, but they're not saying whether or not the two are related.
16:56So again, one person in custody here, is that the actual shooter?
17:00We don't know, but they did say he is a person of interest.
17:03And as far as them looking for others, they say they are still canvassing the area, they're still canvassing the campus, anybody else, any other information.
17:15Now, we had mentioned a little bit earlier that we're starting to see our cell phone video coming up.
17:19Yeah, that's right.
17:20We certainly did get at least confirmation of what was happening there when I did ask the governor and the Department of Public Safety Commissioner, the FBI, just asking them.
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