FBI releases photos of person of interest in Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Utah college
This undated combination of images provided provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows a person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (Federal Bureau of Investigation via AP)
The shooter who assassinated conservative political leader Charlie Kirk and then vanished off a roof and into the woods remained at large more than 24 hours after the killing as federal investigators appealed for the public’s help by releasing a pair of photos of the person believed responsible.
Investigators obtained clues including a palm print, a shoe impression and a high-powered hunting rifle found in a wooded area along the path the shooter fled. But they had yet to name a suspect or cite a motive in the killing they were treating as the latest act of political violence in the U.S.
The photos of a person in a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt, as well as a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, suggested that law enforcement thought tips from the public might be needed to crack the case. Two people who were taken into custody shortly after yesterday’s shooting at Utah Valley University were later released.
One clue was a Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle found in a towel in the woods. A spent cartridge was recovered from the chamber, and three other rounds were loaded in the magazine, according to information circulated among law enforcement and described to The Associated Press. The weapon and ammunition were being analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab.
The attack, carried out in a broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues from a university courtyard, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.
FILE – Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks during a campaign rally, Oct. 24, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when a shot rang out. Stunned spectators gasped and screamed before people started running away.
The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a “college-age” appearance, fired a single shot from the rooftop where they were perched before jumping off.
“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.
Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”
Kirk’s casket was to be flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Arizona, where his his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based.
Kirk was taking questions about gun violence
Kirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.
He was shot while attending a debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus in what was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”
The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence when the shot was heard.
Some attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.
Madison Lattin was watching a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she heard the bullet hit him.
“Blood is falling and dripping down, and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.
On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events “PROVE ME WRONG” stood disheveled.
Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.
“With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.
Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.
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