OREM, Utah — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox held a news conference late Thursday in Orem, Utah, on the investigation into the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, showcasing a new video of a person of interest and asking the public for help identifying them.
“We cannot do our job without the public’s help,” said Cox, adding that the FBI had received more than 7,000 leads and tips so far.
The surveillance video showed a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long sleeve black shirt running across a roof, climbing off the edge of the roof and dropping to the ground. The person is believed to have fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not yet been identified, officials said Thursday.
Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on the Orem campus on Wednesday.
The video was shown in a press conference, where FBI Director Kash Patel, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls, Lt. Gov. Deidre M. Henderson, and Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason were in attendance.
Mason went through surveillance footage and still images of the person of interest, which Gov. Spencer Cox called “an evil human being.”
The footage showed the suspect on a roof on campus, across from the quad. After the shots were fired, the suspect moved to the far right corner, climbed to the edge, and jumped off the building.
As he did that, he left palm impressions and a shoe imprint.
The suspect then moved across the grass and parking lot, crossed the street, and moved into the wooded area, where the high-powered rifle was found.
Mason said the suspect is clearly wearing Converse tennis shoes, a black t-shirt with an American Flag and eagle, a baseball cap with a triangle on it, and sunglasses.
Cox announced his plans to pursue the death penalty.
A $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest suggested that law enforcement thought tips from the public might be needed to crack the case. Two people who were taken into custody shortly after Wednesday’s shooting at Utah Valley University were later released, forcing officials to chase new leads on a separate person of interest they pursued Thursday.
The direct appeals for public support at the nighttime news conference, including new and enhanced photos, appeared to signal law enforcement’s continued struggles a day and a half into the search to identify the shooter and pinpoint the person’s whereabouts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.