Ammon News - U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot on Wednesday while speaking at a Utah university, sparking a manhunt for a lone sniper who the governor said had carried out a political assassination.

Authorities said they still had no suspect in custody as of Wednesday night, some eight hours after the midday shooting at Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah, during an event attended by 3,000 people.

The lone perpetrator suspected of firing the single gunshot that killed Kirk, 31, apparently from a distant rooftop sniper's nest on campus, remained "at large," said Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, at a news conference four hours later.

In a video message taped in the Oval Office and posted to Trump's Truth Social online platform, the president vowed that his administration would track down the suspect.

"My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it," Trump said.

Kirk had 5.3 million followers on X and hosted a popular podcast and radio program, "The Charlie Kirk Show." He had also recently appeared as a guest co-host on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."

He was part of an ecosystem of pro-Trump conservative influencers – including Jack Posobiec, Laura Loomer, Candace Owens and others – who helped to amplify the president's agenda. Kirk frequently attacked mainstream media and engaged in culture-war issues around race, gender and immigration, often in a provocative style.

Reuters