An experienced photographer who has spent four decades capturing major American events claims he’s never encountered anything as ‘intense and jarring’ as the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination — and has meticulously traced the escape route taken by the assassin.
Jeffrey Allred, 62, a photojournalist who has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, walked the path travelled by the killer who shot the conservative figure Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
In an exclusive discussion with the Daily Mail, Allred painted a vivid picture of the assailant’s escape, detailing how he fled the scene, abandoned his rifle, and vanished into a nearby vacant house before disappearing into the residential area.
These revelations come as authorities have identified 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson as the murder suspect, who allegedly confessed to his family before being taken into police custody.
Allred recounts retracing the murderer’s steps, starting from where he leapt off the rooftop of the Losee Center, fired the fatal shot, and rapidly exited the campus, leaving the chaos behind.
‘The shooter headed northeast over Campus Drive, which is a two-lane road,’ Allred explained.
The killer discarded the rifle used to end Kirk’s life beneath some trees across the street, and the high-powered bolt-action weapon was subsequently recovered by the authorities.
Investigators say the ammunition inside carried engravings linked to online gaming and antifascist culture, deepening the mystery of the gunman’s motive.
Veteran photographer Jeffrey Allred retraced the killer’s steps from the Utah college campus into the nearby neighborhood
Conservative icon Charlie Kirk, seen moments before he was shot, was assassinated Wednesday on the UVU campus in Orem, Utah as he held a Turning Point USA event
After crossing the street, the killer immediately darted into a red-brick house that is currently being renovated, explained Allred.
‘It’s a home that isn’t being lived in at the moment,’ he added.
Allred continued: ‘He made his way around a chain link fence at the edge of the property and climbed up a 20-foot embankment where some new concrete stairs had been built.
Veteran photographer Jeffrey Allred, 62
‘There was a construction worker that I think he must have bumped into. I’m sure the house is wide open.
‘It’s quite a nice property in a well-to-do neighborhood.
‘The man then went into the home. We don’t know how long he was in there for, but at some point he left and disappeared.
‘The home must have been open because of the construction.
‘We don’t know if the shooter knew about the house beforehand and had planned to go there, or if he stumbled onto it while getting away.’
Allred said that as he photographed the property, a police officer approached him.
‘I was taking photos of the house and a local police lieutenant guarding the area approached me.
‘He confirmed the subject had been there and told me to leave.
‘There was no crime scene tape, but he seemed upset and wanted me to go, perhaps because they were still investigating the area.’
The Charlie Kirk gunman took a path from Utah Valley University campus through a home being renovated in Orem, Utah
The gunman dropped his rifle near these trees as he took a path from Utah Valley University campus through a home being renovated in Orem, Utah
Kirk’s killer ‘made his way around a chain link fence at the edge of the property and climbed up a 20-foot embankment’, says Allred
The shooter made his way up to the red-brock property ‘where some new concrete stairs had been built’, the photographer said
The suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination has been identified as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah resident
The veteran lensman said questions remain over how the gunman left the area after exiting the home.
‘There’s been speculation that the shooter left on a motorcycle left near the house or was in a car,’ he said.
For Allred, the events he retraced amounted to one of the most intense assignments of his long career.
‘I would say that it’s a very intense scene,’ he commented.
‘I’ve been around a lot of breaking news over the years, but this was really jarring because, you know, someone had been shot so violently like that and died.
‘People are horrified. Most people that I’ve talked to have seen the video of the actual shooting, and they cannot believe it.’
The longtime photographer said Orem and the surrounding area are usually extremely safe with a lot of gun owners.
‘Maybe this will lead to some gun legislation,’ he said.
Allred’s revelations came as the suspect was identified as Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah resident.
He was arrested around 11pm Thursday after confessing to his father, a sheriff’s department employee, who persuaded him to surrender.
Robinson, who lived in a $600,000 six-bedroom home in Washington, Utah, nearly 260 miles south of Orem, now faces the death penalty if convicted.
The alleged killer confessed to his father, who is a a 27-year veteran of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, sources told Daily Mail
Officials released images of the person of interest who was sought in the manhunt, seen wearing a black t-shirt with a bald eagle flying across an American flag
Kirk, 31, was married and had two children
Kirk, 31, was struck by a single shot to the neck as he answered questions during a Turning Point USA event on the UVU campus. The father-of-two collapsed as terrified students fled in panic.
Trump denounced the killing as a ‘heinous assassination’ and confirmed the arrest of the suspect on Fox News.
Kirk leaves behind his wife Erika and their two young children — a daughter, aged three, and a son, just 16 months. The couple had celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary in May.
As investigators scour evidence, Allred’s eyewitness reconstruction of the escape route shines new light on how the assassin slipped away in the critical minutes after the fatal shot — and raises troubling questions about whether the hideout in the vacant house was planned in advance or discovered by chance.
For Allred, the memories remain raw. ‘I’ve been around a lot of breaking news over the years,’ he said, ‘but this was really jarring.’
For more on this story – follow Daily Mail podcast ‘The Assassination of Charlie Kirk,’ out now wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube.
