The shot that killed Charlie Kirk did not need to be fired by an expert marksman, a former Navy sniper told Newsmax on Friday.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot Wednesday at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
Utah authorities and the FBI announced Friday that they had apprehended 22-year-old Tyler Robinson in the assassination of the Turning Point USA CEO.
During an appearance on “Wake Up America” before the announcement of Robinson’s arrest, retired Navy SEAL Mike Sarraille discussed whether the shooter needed to be an experienced marksman.
“There’s a lot of speculation whether this man’s professional or what we call an internet shooter,” Sarraille told co-hosts Sharla McBride and Marc Lotter. “Self-taught from watching YouTube and then practicing the shot itself is not difficult. But the fact that Charlie was hit in the neck. We won’t know until they capture this guy and conduct interviews.
“Usually, snipers are not trained to go for the neck. It’s either the head or center mass. And so, we don’t know what his point of aim was. We know the point of impact was the neck. And at 200 yards, you know, that really is not a difficult shot with a bolt-action rifle, which you choose for precision over a semi-automatic sniper rifle, which you trade for speed.”
Sarraille, who appeared with former FBI agent Jonathan Gilliam, said he understood authorities in the Kirk investigation had recovered a Mauser 36 bolt-action rifle.
“Now, what we can tell from this assassination is that … there was a sort of pre-mission site selection,” he said. “He had a pre-planned escape route, and he only took one shot.”
Lotter asked Sarraille whether all roofs near an event such as the Kirk rally should be checked and cleared.
“The short answer is yes, it should be,” Sarraille said. “But again, you just said it. The president has a Secret Service detail in conjunction with local law enforcement. Charlie Kirk had a private security detail, probably small. You’ve got the Utah Valley University police force, which is, you know, probably, I would say, an inexperienced force with these type of matters.
“So, what this would look like prior to the event is they do a search. They identify all the points of vulnerability. They also have what you call an outer cordon. The difference between the assassination attempt on [President Donald] Trump and Charlie Kirk is they also had counter snipers through the Secret Service, which eventually took out that suspect.
“So, you know, for a private citizen to hire a security detail with that volume that can do an outer cordon, that can coordinate with local law enforcement to include having counter snipers, that’s costly. It’s just costly. And usually, you’re not afforded that opportunity as a private civilian.”
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