The search is ongoing for the person who assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

Authorities have provided details about the suspect, identifying him as a college-aged male with advanced firearm skills and likely knowledge of the university campus.

Witnesses reported seeing him in a long-sleeve black shirt displaying an American flag, along with dark sunglasses, a baseball cap, and Converse sneakers. Footage later surfaced of him moving with a limp through a neighborhood, seemingly hiding a rifle in his pants, as he approached the campus prior to the shooting.

After the shot was fired, he was spotted leaping from a rooftop, leaving distinct palm and shoe prints behind. Officials have inferred from his escape that he possesses athletic ability and physical fitness.

Investigators discovered a high-powered, bolt-action Mauser .30-06 calibre rifle in a nearby wooded area. It is undergoing examination at an FBI lab in Virginia, where tests for fingerprints and DNA are hoped to aid in his capture.

The rifle held several rounds of ammunition, some of which reportedly featured engravings supporting transgender ideologies, although authorities later suggested that this might have been misinterpreted. 

A former FBI agent has now suggested that the killer is likely an experienced hunter acting alone, while another believes that he knew the layout of the university and meticulously planned the assassination to the last detail, including where to dump the weapon.

Explaining that the precision of the shot indicated a high level of skill, Dennis Franks said: ‘It required a lot of confidence to be able to take the shot, to execute and hit where it did.’

Speaking to the BBC, he noted that the distance of the shooting would not be challenging for an experienced shooter. 

While acknowledging that ‘anyone could go down to a rifle range and train with a scope,’ Franks emphasised that the combination of the area and the ‘confidence’ of the gunman suggested that the person who shot Charlie Kirk could be a hunter. 

He also stated: ‘I tend to think from a behavioural standpoint that he acted alone.’ 

Retired FBI agent Brad Garrett told ABC News that every detail of the attack was carefully planned, including how the possible murder weapon was discarded by the suspect along his escape route. 

He said: ‘He probably did that [because] he didn’t want to be seen carrying a weapon, running through a neighbourhood, or walking through a neighbourhood.’

Investigators have received over 7,000 tips from the public so far. Earlier, three police sources informed CBS News that they believed they had identified a person of interest, but that lead was later deemed unsuccessful.

Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference: ‘We are investing everything we have into this and we will catch this individual.’

Mason also said detectives were looking at ‘good video footage’ of the suspect that they have used to trace his movements before and after the shooting. 

The suspect is said to have arrived at the campus at 11:52am local time, 28 minutes before Kirk was shot. Mason said: ‘We have tracked his movements onto the campus, through stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof to the shooting location.

‘After the shooting, 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 into a neighbourhood.’

Charlie Kirk, 31, was fatally shot while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. 

The shooter fired a single shot from a rooftop approximately 200 yards away, hitting Kirk in the neck. 

A $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the identification of the shooter.

Two individuals were initially detained following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, but were later released without charges. 

One of the men, George Zinn, a 71-year-old local political agitator, was arrested on campus grounds that day. 

Authorities clarified that the arrest was for potential obstruction of justice and that Zinn had already been released. 

Kirk was participating in a ‘Prove Me Wrong’ debate at Utah Valley University when he was fatally shot. The event, part of his organisation’s ‘American Comeback Tour,’ attracted around 3,000 attendees.

It was the first stop of a 15-date university tour.  

After he was shot, he was transported to Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

President Donald Trump has also condemned the shooting, ordering flags to be lowered to half-staff and announcing that Kirk will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.