OREM, Utah — Authorities released a video Thursday evening of a suspect running across the roof of a building at Utah Valley University and jumping to the ground as the search for a gunman in the killing of influential right-wing activist Charlie Kirk continued.

The man was described as wearing blue jeans, a baseball cap with a triangle, Converse tennis shoes and a dark long-sleeved T-shirt with what appears to be American flag and an eagle.

“All identifying features that we’re hoping the public can help us identify and lead us to this suspect,” said Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety at an evening news conference. Mason earlier told MSNBC that authorities “have no idea” where Kirk’s killer is.

Earlier in the day, authorities unveiled grainy photos of the same man captured on security camera video clenching his fists and walking up a stairway. They urged the public to report any information that could lead to his identification or arrest.

No suspects were in custody Thursday evening, more than 24 hours after the shooting.

In the video, the suspect can be seen running across the parking lot toward a clump of trees on campus. Authorities used this evidence to track the man’s movements and recover the weapon they believe was used to kill Kirk from the same wooded area, Mason said.

Robert Bohls, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City office, said the firearm was a high-powered bolt-action rifle.

Investigators were tracking a person who appeared to be college-age and blended in on campus. They have scoured dozens of feeds from campus security cameras and collected footwear impressions, a palm print and forearm imprints for analysis.

The FBI announced it was offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of the gunman. More than 7,000 tips have been received so far, which is the largest number submitted in any incident since the 2013 Boston bombing, Mason said.

A close ally of President Donald Trump who founded the conservative youth group Turning Point USA, Kirk was killed Wednesday at the Orem campus by a single shot fired from the rooftop of a nearby building as he addressed questions about mass shootings and transgender people.

The killing of a beloved figure in American conservatism — a man who relished debate and challenging left-wing orthodoxies on college campuses — has roiled national politics. Over the last decade, the 31-year-old forged connections with leading figures of the Trump administration.

On Thursday, Trump announced he would posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Kirk, praising him as “a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.” The flag at the White House North Lawn was lowered to half-staff.

Hours later, Vice President JD Vance, who called Kirk a “true friend,” landed with his wife, Usha, at Salt Lake City International Airport on Air Force Two to meet Kirk’s widow, Erika, and their two children. They then escorted Kirk’s casket to Arizona alongside Kirk’s family and several of his friends. Trump told reporters he intends to attend Kirk’s funeral in Phoenix once it’s scheduled.

Video of the university crowd captured during Wednesday’s event by an attendee shows a lone figure in black dashing across the roof of the Losee Center, a building about 150 yards from where Kirk spoke.

After scrutinizing security camera video, investigators said they believed the shooter arrived on campus about 11:50 a.m. and ascended the stairwells to the roof and across to the shooting location, Mason said.

“We were able to track his movements as he moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building and fled off of the campus and into a neighborhood,” Mason said.

Some experts who saw videos said the assailant probably had experience with firearms, given the precision with which the single shot was fired from a considerable distance.

A law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times the weapon was a Mauser 30-06. Investigators have not said whether the rifle had been traced to an owner.

A source familiar with the investigation told The Times on Thursday that the ammunition recovered with the rifle had engravings, including alphanumeric characters, that the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were seeking to interpret.

Several media outlets described a summary report circulated within the ATF that says the markings reference “transgender and anti fascist ideology.” However, a law enforcement source told The Times that was just one interpretation and cautioned that it could turn out to be wrong.

As investigators consider the significance of the markings, the speculation is certain to inflame national tensions at a time when transgender rights and health care are at the center of the culture wars.

Early Thursday, FBI agents and federal law enforcement in Utah focused on a modest residential neighborhood directly northeast of the university, canvassing neighbors for video or information. One under-construction home abutting a patch of trees had crime tape surrounding it as neighbors came out to greet agents.

“It was hard to sleep last night,” said Truman Van Cott, who helped agents connect with his neighbors who had security camera video.

Hope for a speedy capture of the shooter faded Wednesday night after the FBI released the man its director, Kash Patel, had said was a subject of the investigation. After thanking local and state authorities for taking into custody “the subject for the horrific shooting,” Patel announced that the man had been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.

Another man who was taken into custody a few hours earlier was later released after being booked by Utah Valley University police on suspicion of obstruction of justice.

The shooter fired about 20 minutes after Kirk began speaking Wednesday on a grassy campus courtyard under a white canopy emblazoned with the slogan “PROVE ME WRONG.” The event, attended by about 3,000 people, was the first stop on Kirk’s American Comeback Tour of U.S. campuses.

Multiple videos shared on social media show Kirk sitting on a chair, taking questions in front of a large crowd of people.

“So, do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked.

“Too many,” Kirk said as some in the crowd cheered.

The audience member told him five, then asked a follow-up question: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk responded.

Almost immediately, a shot rang out. Kirk fell back, blood spurting from his neck. Video shows people screaming and fleeing.

The killing led to swift condemnation of political violence from both sides of the ideological divide. But it also led to a blame game.

After celebrating Kirk as a “patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate” and a “martyr for truth and freedom,” Trump said in an evening video broadcast that “radical left” rhetoric was “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”

The president — who did not mention recent acts of political violence against Democratic lawmakers — called for a crackdown on left-wing groups.

Even as the House of Representatives observed a moment of silence for Kirk on Wednesday when he was still in critical condition, the floor descended into chaos when some Democrats pushed back on a Republican legislator’s request that someone lead the group in prayer.

“You all caused this,” Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a close friend of Kirk, shouted at Democrats.

Most Democratic politicians issued statements rebuking Kirk’s killing. But as some left-wing progressives took to the internet to celebrate Kirk’s demise and condemn his political legacy, a slew of Republicans shared screenshots of their posts in an attempt to publicly shame them. Some called for extreme punishment.

On X, Louisiana Republican Rep. Clay Higgins announced he would use his congressional authority and influence with big tech to push for business black listings, the revocation of driver’s licenses and immediate social media bans for every commenter who “belittled the assassination.”

“I’m basically going to cancel with extreme prejudice these evil, sick animals who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” Higgins said.

Some Democrats spoke out Thursday against what they described as a dangerous Republican narrative that progressives are at fault.

“To assume and assert and cast blame when the FBI has failed to even apprehend the assailant is absolutely an irresponsible action,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters.

Over the last decade, Kirk emerged as one of the Republican Party’s most influential power brokers, with 7.3 million followers on TikTok and 3.8 million subscribers on YouTube. Key members of the Trump administration credited him after his death with helping them secure the GOP’s 2024 electoral victory.

(Toohey reported from Orem, Jarvie from Atlanta and Winton and Harter from Los Angeles.)

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.