SALT LAKE CITY:

Police and US federal agents mounted an intense manhunt on Thursday for the sniper who killed the influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he was fielding questions about gun violence during a university appearance in Utah.

Kirk, a 31-year-old podcast-radio commentator and a close ally of US President Donald Trump, is credited with helping build the Republican Party's support among younger voters. He was killed on Wednesday by a single gunshot in what Utah Governor Spencer Cox called a political assassination.

The killing, captured in graphic detail in videos that rapidly spread around the internet, occurred during a midday event attended by 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, about 40 miles (65 km) south of Salt Lake City.

In one clip, blood

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