Footage has emerged showing a figure running across a roof in the wake of the shooting of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah.
The clip, recorded by Tanner Maxwell and distributed by Reuters, shows a person on a rooftop at Utah Valley University’s Losee Center appearing to flee as the crowd at Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour” event ducks for cover.
Kirk, 31, one of the most influential figures in the MAGA movement, died after being shot during a talk on campus on Wednesday, with authorities still searching for the suspect.
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“Right when I hit the camera is when I heard the shot go off,” Maxwell told The Washington Post. He also told The New York Times that he only spotted the figure, who appears to be in dark clothing, after reviewing his footage at home.
“It was scary,” Maxwell said of the shooting, which left the Turning Point USA founder dead.
It remains unclear whether the individual seen in the clip is the gunman or someone unrelated. A second video filmed from another angle also shows what appears to be a person in dark clothing lying on the same roof before the shooting.
The FBI and the Utah Public Safety Department believe the shooting was a “targeted attack,” fired from “the roof of a building down to the location of the public event in the student courtyard.”
University spokeswoman Ellen Treanor confirmed the shot “came from the direction of the Losee Center,” about 140 yards from where Kirk was speaking.
Two people arrested in the aftermath were ruled to have “no current ties” to the shooting. One man, George Zinn, was initially taken in as a suspect but later released and charged with obstruction. A second man, Zachariah Qureshi, was taken into custody and released without facing charges.
“We have full resources devoted to this investigation, including tactical, operational, investigative, and intelligence,” FBI Salt Lake City Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said in a statement. “To be clear, the FBI will fully support and co-lead this investigation alongside our partners.”
President Donald Trump paid tribute to Kirk in a video message shared on Truth Social on Wednesday evening.
“Charlie Kirk travelled the nation, joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good faith debate,” Trump said. “His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever, to share his love of country and to spread the simple words of common sense on campuses nationwide. He championed his ideas with courage, logic, humor, and grace.”
Trump, who accused the “radical left” of fueling rising violence in the U.S., also ordered American flags nationwide, including at the White House, to be flown at half-staff until Sunday in Kirk’s honor.
