Video, More Photos of Charlie Kirk Suspect Released

Investigators have 'no idea' whether shooter is still in Utah
Posted Sep 12, 2025 5:41 AM CDT

Utah authorities and the FBI released video and more photos Thursday as the hunt for Charlie Kirk's killer continued, though they still don't have a name for the suspect or any idea of his whereabouts. At a Thursday evening press conference at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was shot on Wednesday, Beau Mason, the commissioner of Utah's Department of Public Safety, was asked if the suspect was still in Utah, the New York Times reports. "We have no idea," he said. "We're exploring leads for individuals out of state and individuals that live close by."

  • Mason narrated the video during the news conference. It shows the suspect running across a campus building's roof before dropping onto a lawn, carrying a backpack, CNN reports. "The suspect, after dropping off the building, moved around across this grass area around the parking lot," Mason said.

  • Officials said they had received more than 7,000 leads and tips from the public, the AP reports. "We cannot do our job without the public's help," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at the news conference. He added that the state plans to seek the death penalty. Cox said the FBI has received more "digital tips" than at any time since the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
  • The newly released photos show details of the suspect's clothing, including an American flag and eagle on his shirt and a triangle on his hat, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Mason described them as "identifying features that we're hoping the public can help us identify and lead us to this suspect." Joe VanFonda, the CEO of the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, said the shirt appears to be one that was mailed to supporters of the foundation but was never on sale publicly, the AP reports.
  • President Trump said Thursday evening that there had been "big progress" in tracking down the killer and there was an "indication" of the motivation for the assassination of the Turning Point USA founder, the Wall Street Journal reports. "But we'll let you know about that later," he said. The president said Kirk advocated nonviolence, adding, "That's the way I'd like to see people respond."

  • FBI Director Kash Patel was present at the news conference but did not speak. Sources tell the Times that an online meeting Patel convened with around 200 agents Thursday was a "tense affair," with Patel berating agents for failing to give him timely information. The sources say that in one of his few statements without profanity, Patel said he wouldn't tolerate "Mickey Mouse operations."
  • In a press conference earlier Thursday, officials said they had recovered what is believed to be the gun used to kill Kirk.
  • The Journal reports that an early report circulated among law enforcement officials said "transgender and anti-fascist ideology" was inscribed on ammunition in the rifle investigators found. Justice Department officials later said, however, said the "probe was in its early stages, investigators were still analyzing the evidence and the bulletin may not accurately reflect the messages on the ammunition," per the Journal.

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