Updated September 11, 2025 at 7:38 AM HST
Authorities have released photos of an individual and recovered a high-powered rifle in their search for the person who fatally shot right-wing activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk on Wednesday.
Kirk, the 31-year-old CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on the first stop of his American Comeback Tour. President Trump announced his death and ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff through Sunday in mourning.
Kirk, a close Trump ally, is credited with energizing young Republicans and helping them deliver his electoral victory in 2024. His death has drawn condolences — and condemnation of political violence — from both sides of the aisle.
The Utah Department of Public Safety says the shooting is "believed to be a targeted attack," though the identity and motive of the shooter are still unknown.
The FBI released a set of photos Thursday of a person of interest walking through a building, wearing sunglasses, a dark baseball cap and a long-sleeve shirt with what appears to be a U.S. flag and bald eagle. The agency is directing people to its digital tip line, and offering a reward of up to $100,000 for "information leading to the identification and arrest of the individual(s) responsible" for Kirk's death.
We are asking for the public's help identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
— FBI Salt Lake City (@FBISaltLakeCity) September 11, 2025
1-800-CALL-FBI
Digital media tips: https://t.co/K7maX81TjJ pic.twitter.com/ALuVkTXuDc
Officials from the FBI and Utah Department of Public Safety said at a Thursday morning press conference that investigators working overnight were able to track the movements of the suspect before and after the shooting, and found a rifle in a wooded area nearby that has since been secured.
"[I] can't overstate the tragedy and horrific event that yesterday was, and how we will work to bring to justice the actions of one individual or any other individuals that assisted in that," said Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety. He added that efforts are being made to return Kirk's body to his family on Thursday.
Vice President Vance and Usha Vance will visit Salt Lake City, Utah, today to pay respects to Kirk's family, according to a source familiar with the trip who was not permitted to talk about it on the record. The vice president — who mourned the father of two as a "great family man" and "true friend" in a lengthy tribute on X — was originally slated to attend a Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony in New York City.
While attending a separate Sept. 11 ceremony at the Pentagon, Trump said he plans to posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Trump called Kirk "a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions."
Here's what else we know about Kirk's killing and the search for the suspect.
Kirk had only been speaking for a few minutes
The university confirmed Kirk was shot at 12:10 p.m. local time, 10 minutes after the student-sponsored event started. A shot is believed to have been fired from the roof of a building about 150 yards away from Kirk, it said.
"He was hit and taken from the location by his security," it said.
Police cleared people from the campus as it closed down. One of those people was Emma Pitts, a staff writer with Salt Lake City-based Deseret News.
Pitts told NPR the atmosphere at the outdoor event was pleasant before the shooting, with a handful of people protesting, and someone waving a Pride flag from the balcony.
"There were so many college students. Everyone just seemed so happy to have Kirk there," she said.
About 3,000 people were in the crowd, university police said. The Utah Department of Public Safety said university police had six officers working the event, in addition to Kirk's own security detail. Pitts said there was no bag screening process for ticketholders as they filed into the courtyard.
Kirk was answering an audience member's question about mass shootings and gun violence when the shot was fired. Graphic videos circulating on social media show Kirk — sitting in a chair under a tent with signs reading "The American Comeback" and "Prove Me Wrong" — holding a microphone when he suddenly appears to grab his neck and slump out of his chair.
Pitts reported that after the shot rang out, she saw "so much blood" coming from Kirk's neck, and said he "went limp." Attendees ducked down soon after, she said.
"The amount of blood I saw immediately, I just don't see how someone would survive from that, and it's a tragedy," she said.
The university will be closed through Sunday.
"We are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk, a guest to our campus," a statement from the university said. "Our hearts go out to his family."
Authorities are still searching for a suspect
Little is known about the suspect, though Mason told reporters that he appears to be of college age and "blended in well with a college institution."
He said the suspect arrived on campus at 11:52 a.m., and that investigators have tracked his movements through stairwells, up to the roof and "across the roof to a shooting location." After the shooting, he said, the suspect jumped off the roof and fled campus to a nearby neighborhood.
Robert Bohls, the FBI special agent in charge, said investigators recovered the suspected murder weapon — a "high-powered, bolt action rifle" in a wooded area where the shooter had fled, as well as a footwear impression, palmprint and forearm impression, all of which are now being analyzed. He said it is not clear how far the suspect has fled, but he does not believe there is a danger to the community.
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Mason said authorities are working to verify the suspect's identity from video footage, which they do not plan to release at this time.
Authorities are asking anyone with footage or information about the shooting to share it with the FBI's digital tip line. Bohls said the agency has received 130 tips as of Thursday morning, stressing that none are too small and all will be investigated.
"Any attack on the First Amendment is an attack on the very foundation of our democracy," Bohls added. "That is why we will relentlessly pursue this case and the shooter until we find him."
The search for the shooter had been the subject of considerable confusion and apparent false starts on Wednesday.
Just after 6 p.m. ET, FBI Director Kash Patel tweeted that "the subject for the horrific shooting" was in custody. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox similarly said at a press conference that a person of interest was in custody, but that the investigation was ongoing.
"I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this: We will try you and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law," Cox said. "And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah."
Around 8 p.m. ET, however, Patel tweeted that "the subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement."
Utah's Department of Public Safety later said that two people had been taken into custody: a suspect who was later released and charged with obstruction by Utah Valley University police, and a second suspect who was released after interrogation.
"There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals," it added. Mason reiterated on Thursday that those individuals have since faced undue harassment and threats, and urged the public to be patient with the investigative process.
Condolences and condemnations pour in
Politicians and public figures are condemning Kirk's killing, even those on the left who say they vehemently disagreed with his views. An advocate for free speech and limited government, Kirk also used his sizable platform to spread falsehoods and conspiracy theories about topics including climate change, vaccines, transgender people and demographic change.
Former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — as well as the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation — issued statements condemning such an act of violence on a college campus.
Trump posted a four-minute video from the Oval Office expressing his "grief and anger" at the "heinous assassination" of his conservative ally.
He blamed the media and the political left for the violence, which he said included the assassination attempt against himself in Butler, Pa., during the 2024 campaign.
"It's long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible," Trump said.
Trump did not include any examples of political violence against Democrats. Those include the June attack in Minnesota that killed a state lawmaker as well as her husband and dog, and left another lawmaker wounded, and the arson attack at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence in April.
"We've had political assassinations recently in Minnesota, we had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania and we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate ... and now-president of the United States," Cox, a Republican, said at his press conference. "Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken."
An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released in July found that 73% of Americans see politically motivated violence as a major problem, with little difference between political parties.
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