The manhunt for the person who shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk remained underway Thursday, a day after the shocking scene at a Utah university.
Authorities released a new video Thursday night showing a person dressed in black who fled in the moments after the shooting. The video showed the person run on top of the roof of a campus building, clamber down and walk off toward a wooded area where investigators later found a rifle believed to be used in Wednesday’s fatal shooting.
“We are going to catch this person,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at a news conference Thursday evening.
Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck from a rooftop Wednesday as he was at a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University in Orem, officials said, and he was later pronounced dead.
President Donald Trump, a close ally of Kirk’s, announced the news of Kirk’s death in a post on Truth Social.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote Wednesday. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”
Here’s what we know about the shooting.
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When was Kirk shot?
Kirk was discussing mass shootings in the United States on Wednesday in the first stop of his “American Comeback Tour” when a single shot rang out at around 12:20 p.m., striking him in the neck.
The moment Kirk was shot was captured on video from multiple angles.
Witnesses described seeing Kirk slump backward before he hit the ground as chaos erupted among event attendees, who ran for cover.
“I saw a bunch of blood come out of Charlie,” witness Justin Hickens told NBC News’ Tom Llamas. “I saw his body kind of kick back and go limp, and everybody dropped to the ground.”
More on Charlie Kirk’s assassination
Another witness, Tyler McGettigan, told NBC News he was surprised that he wasn’t asked to go through security to get into the event. He also said that no one checked his ticket when entering and that no metal detectors were posted outside.
Kirk was whisked away by his team and taken in a private vehicle to the hospital, where he later died.
The gunman appeared to have fired the fatal shot from the rooftop of a building about 200 yards from where Kirk was speaking to a crowd of thousands. The person was wearing all black and disappeared after the shooting, Utah Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said Wednesday.
Investigators believe the shooter had the rifle concealed the entire time, from when the person entered the campus to the shooting, Mason said.
Is there a suspect?
Officials are searching for the person responsible for firing the shot. The FBI also announced a $100,000 reward for information.
The FBI released photos Thursday of a person of interest it is seeking in connection with the shooting.
The photos show a person walking up stairs wearing dark jeans, a black long-sleeve shirt with an American flag and an eagle on it, a black hat and black sunglasses. In a second set of photos, the person has a black backpack.
On Thursday, officials said the shooter appeared to be college-age but declined to give more details.
Mason said Thursday the shooter arrived at the university at 11:52 a.m. Security video tracked the shooter in stairwells, going up to and across the roof where the person filed the fatal shot, he said.
The shooter then moved to the other side of the building, jumped off the roof and fled to a nearby neighborhood, Mason said.
Mason said authorities are using technology to identify the shooter from video. He said officials combed through the neighborhood where the shooter fled, spoke to witnesses and asking residents for doorbell camera video to identify leads.
Shortly after the shooting, authorities took two people into custody, but both were released Wednesday, and officials said they had “no current ties” to the shooting.
The shooter is believed to have used a high-powered bolt-action rifle, which was recovered in a wooded area, Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI, said at the news conference Thursday.
Investigators have also collected a “footwear impression, a palm print and forearm imprints for analysis,” Bohls said.
Who was Charlie Kirk?
Kirk was an influential conservative activist and a co-founder of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization that promotes conservative political ideals to young people.
He often spoke at high schools and on college campuses, engaging in debate with the younger generation on topics such as gun violence and transgender rights.
Kirk, also a controversial podcaster, attached himself and his group to Trump during the 2016 election, becoming a staunch supporter of Trump’s politics and administration. He also made frequent appearances on Fox News.
Kirk promoted the idea that the 2020 election was stolen, and his group bused people to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed it. He was a close friend of Vice President JD Vance and campaigned alongside Vance and Trump last year, speaking on the first night of the Republican National Convention in July.
Authorities have said the shooting was a “targeted attack” and a “political assassination.”
Cox, the governor, said Utah officials plan to seek the death penalty.
