A former FBI agent Thursday suggested that investigators might not rule out whether the person who asked the question about gun violence and mass shootings in the moments before right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk was assassinated could be potentially connected to the fatal shooting.
"I don't think ruled it out like I would want it," Rob D'Amico told MSNBC. "It's one of those everyone's talking about that he was talking about gun violence when he was shot."
"I would want to talk to that person who asked that question and make sure that there's no connection to in fact, the shooter," D'Amico said. "You have to run every lead down. People are talking about him talking about mass shootings and then getting shot. Was that something that was set up? I think you can clear that fairly easily."
Investigators are still looking at video footage to see if the suspect was assisted or dropped off.
"They have to run every lead down," he said. "Because you don't want to say that he acted alone and then figure out later that he didn't."
It's unclear who the shooter is or what their experience is. They could even be a hunter, he added.
"So obviously it was planned in the fact that he knew what building to go to, how to get access to the roof," D'Amico said. "I would say... calling it a sniper shot, and that's more the technique. I don't personally think it was a school trained sniper — that's law enforcement, military."
"This was a targeted assassination," D'Amico said. I think that part of why they're not releasing the information is one, they want to have control of it. If they don't have any idea who he is like in the [United] Healthcare shooting, they may have released it at that point but if they think they can identify that person, if you release it to the public things kind of get out of your hands so to speak. So if they can identify him and figure out where he's at."
It was not considered a mass threat to the public at that point, he added, considering that the shooter targeted Kirk and only Kirk. A manhunt is underway for the suspect as investigators put together a timeline, using technology in video of the shooter to try and identify the suspect.
Investigators have discovered a weapon, shoe and palm print impressions. They've received more than 100 tips so far, according to reports.
"If you don't catch them in the immediacy of the event all the panic after makes it really hard to catch them on the outer perimeters at the event," D'Amico said.