Hopes for the fast capture of the person who fatally shot right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah evaporated Wednesday when Kash Patel, the FBI director, announced that the authorities had released a man he had described as a central subject of a multiagency search.

“The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement,” Patel wrote on his X account, adding: “our investigation continues.”

Two hours earlier, Patel had stoked expectations of a fast end to the search by congratulating state, local and federal officials for taking into custody “the subject for the horrific shooting today.”

The release of the subject, whose name has not been released by the authorities, capped a day of shock, fear and uncertainty over what officials described as political assas

See Full Page