Law enforcement officials in Utah released Thursday night a video of the suspected shooter in the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder and CEO Charlie Kirk, saying that the person wore Converse tennis shoes and left a handprint and a shoeprint at the scene.
The video, which the FBI posted on its website, showed the suspect running across the rooftop of a building believed to be where he shot Kirk, 31, in the neck Wednesday from about 200 yards away during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
"Here you see the suspect [running] behind that upper building," said Beau Mason, commissioner for the Utah Department of Public Safety while narrating the video. Mason spoke at a news conference that aired live on Newsmax. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino were also in attendance but did not speak.
"He's going to come out on the right, moves to this far right corner," Mason said. "As he does, he's going to climb off the edge and then drop down to the ground. As he did that, he left some palm impressions. There are some smudges, [and] some places we're looking to collect DNA. There's a shoe imprint where we believe the suspect is clearly identified as wearing Converse tennis shoes. … It's important to note his black T-shirt, his black pants, and there appears to be some white on the soles of those Converse tennis shoes. Those are all identifiable items that we're looking for.
"In the stills that are going to follow this, you're going to see a very distinctive T-shirt with an American flag and appears to have an eagle on it. There's also a baseball cap with a triangle on it and a pair of sunglasses, all distinctive. All things that we would ask the public to look for and try to identify. If they know someone who has those items, who has been seen wearing those items. We're looking for all that information here.
"You see the suspect after dropping off the building, he moved around across this grassy area around the parking lot. … After he crosses the street, this is where he moves over into the wooded area. This is the video evidence that we utilized to track his movements and to locate that firearm in that wooded area following the discovery of this evidence."
The rifle found in the woods is an older-model .30-caliber hunting rifle. Ammunition in the rifle reportedly had engraved slogans linked to transgender and antifascist ideology.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox urged the public to help the authorities capture "this evil human being." Cox, a Republican, said prosecutors would pursue the death penalty once a suspect is caught.
Earlier Thursday, authorities released images of a "person of interest" they are seeking in connection with the assassination of Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump. The images released by the FBI and Utah police show a man in a stairwell wearing a black shirt adorned with an eagle and an American flag, a baseball cap and dark sunglasses.
"We cannot do our job without the public's help," Cox said. "The public has answered our call for action. So far, we've received more than 7,000 leads and tips. I would just note that the FBI hasn't received this many digital media tips from the public since the Boston Marathon bombing [in 2013].
"This case also highlights the dedication of our law enforcement community. We have 20 federal, state, and local law enforcement partners that are working shoulder to shoulder to find the person who committed this horrific crime."
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of those responsible for Kirk's assassination.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.