OREM, UT — Behind Utah Valley University's Losee building, FBI forensics agents were still gathering evidence Sept. 11 in the wooded area where the bureau said agents recovered the "high-powered" rifle a shooter used to kill political influencer Charlie Kirk.

The Wall Street Journal and New York Times, citing law-enforcement sources, reported it was an older model Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle. An ATF spokesperson declined to comment to USA TODAY, citing the active investigation.

Evidence markers on a small hill behind the building appeared to mark the trail the shooter took, scrambling through some trees towards a nearby construction site.

At the site, Dylan Hope, an electrician, told USA TODAY that his colleague, who was operating an excavator Wednesday, Sept. 10, when the shooting took place, believes he spoke with the gunman. Hope said his colleague spoke with a young man who appeared on the site and asked if he could walk through it.

“The alleged shooter, before any of the sirens or people were walking out, talked to the excavator guy,” Hope said. “The excavator guy stopped him because we’re not supposed to have people on here.”

The man told the construction worker he was “trying to get home safe” after a shooting, Hope said.

Police officers later appeared with a canine and tracked the shooter through the site and onto a property next door, Hope said. He didn’t know if the shooter parked a vehicle near the construction site.

“I’ve been parking here every day and I didn’t see any cars I didn’t recognize,” he said.

Shortly after USA TODAY examined the site, agents blocked it off with police tape.

Donald Lane, a former U.S. Secret Service agent with decades of experience in fugitive manhunts, told USA TODAY that the recovery of the rifle used in the killing of Charlie Kirk is a significant development for law enforcement.

“Recovering that weapon is absolutely huge,” he said. “It’s a gold mine of information.”

Lane said experts analyzing the gun could discover fingerprints, DNA or perhaps a serial number that could trace back to the shooter. He also noted other breakthroughs in the case, including a palm and a shoe print discovered near the scene of the shooting.

Each piece of evidence, Lane and other experts said, greatly improves law enforcement’s chances of identifying the suspect. And if the suspect is identified, experts said it will be difficult for the alleged gunman to avoid detection considering the high-profile nature of the case.

“It is always very challenging for fugitives to stay on the loose,” said Scott Duffey, co-director for the Criminal Justice Institute at Wilmington University and a retired FBI agent, adding that research shows the vast majority of fugitives are eventually caught.

Tom Chittum, a former ATF Associate Deputy Director had predicted the single shot fired at Kirk indicated a bolt action rifle was used.

“.30-06 is a common hunting caliber, and the reports indicate it was an imported, older model,” said Tom Chittum, former ATF Associate Deputy Director.

Chittum said the traditional hunting caliber is used for hunting deer and in this configuration usually comes in a magazine with five rounds. Bolt action rifles mean one pull of the trigger fires a round, then a shooter must manually chamber another round. That’s opposed to a semi-automatic rifle where the firearm uses a mechanism to chamber a subsequent round.

“This was a longer shot, that suggests a person has prepared and practiced, but you don’t necessarily need to be a police or military sniper to make that shot,” Chittum said. “With modern optics and some practice, it’s not an impossible shot.”

The shooter may have been less than 150 yards from Kirk, according to a USA TODAY analysis of satellite imagery.

Such a short distance is considered well within reach of a basic marksman. Army soldiers, even those in non-combat jobs or those who lack previous firearms experience, must pass a rifle marksmanship test that includes targets as far as 325 yards away after mere days of training.

The .30-06 round used in the recovered rifle would not experience much, if any, gravitational drop or wind disruption at that distance, either.

The fact that the FBI recovered the firearm will accelerate the investigation, Chittum said, since it can be traced and tested for fingerprints and DNA evidence.

“I assume, discarding it would be part of the plan to escape. To carry a long rifle. It surprises me the person abandoned it,” Chittum said. “It certainly makes it easier. It’ll have biological evidence and the trace itself will produce leads.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FBI recovers rifle used in Charlie Kirk shooting, traces path through woods

Reporting by Will Carless, Nick Penzenstadler, Davis Winkie and Christopher Cann, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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