The FBI on Thursday released new surveillance footage and photographs of the suspect accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
The 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA was shot and killed just after noon on Wednesday while delivering remarks at a campus event in Orem, Utah.
“The FBI is releasing video of the shooter who murdered Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025,” the bureau posted. “Following the shooting, the individual jumps from a rooftop and runs away from the location. Trace evidence collected from the rooftop includes shoe impressions, a forearm imprint, and a palm print. The shooter’s weapon and ammunition were recovered from a wooded area near the university.”
In the video, the shooter can be seen sprinting across a rooftop on campus and leaping down the far side of a building before fleeing into a nearby neighborhood. Trace evidence left on the rooftop included shoe impressions, a forearm imprint, and a palm print, according to investigators.
Earlier, Utah authorities released video showing suspect walking around in a residential neighborhood. The subject appeared to have a limp, suggesting he may have stashed a weapon in his pantleg.
Authorities also confirmed that a high-powered, bolt-action rifle believed to be the murder weapon, along with ammunition, was later recovered in a wooded area near the university.
Earlier images of the suspect had already circulated, showing him dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt bearing an American flag graphic. The new FBI photos, released Thursday evening, offered the clearest look yet at the person of interest, described as a thin male wearing black sunglasses and a hat.
Investigators said the shooter arrived on campus around 11:52 a.m. and climbed a stairwell to access the rooftop overlooking the green space where Kirk was speaking. About 20 minutes into the event, at 12:20 p.m., a single gunshot rang out, striking Kirk in full view of an audience of thousands.
Early on Friday, President Donald Trump announced the arrest of a suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” during a live interview at the cable giant’s Manhattan studio, saying he heard just minutes before his 8 a.m. interview.
“Somebody who was very close to him turned him in,” the president said, saying it was relayed through “a minister who was involved with law enforcement.”
“I hope he’s going to be found guilty and I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did — Charlie Kirk was the finest person and he didn’t deserve this.”
Trump did not name the suspect. Later this morning, investigators will hold a public update.
Authorities and sources told The Post that the suspect was thought to have fired a single shot from a high place about 200 yards away from the tent where Kirk, 31, was sitting at the university’s Losee Center.
At first, reports said that the suspect was a gunman in jeans, a black shirt, and a black vest sitting on top of a structure east of the school’s library with a long rifle.
WATCH:
Kirk, who co-founded Turning Point USA and has two kids, had just answered a question from someone in the audience regarding mass massacres by transgender individuals at the outdoor gathering on the Orem campus when he was shot once.
The conservative influencer jerked back and seemed to be in pain as he grabbed his neck. A single gunshot went out from the crowd, sending thousands of people into a panic, according to dramatic video from the event.
“I didn’t watch,” Trump told Fox News on Friday of the shockingly graphic videos.
“I heard about it… I would have never made a good doctor, let me put it that way,” the president said. “I mean, I heard enough. I didn’t want to watch it… I didn’t want to remember Charlie that way.”