Our live coverage of Charlie Kirk’s killing has moved here.
It's been roughly 36 hours since Charlie Kirk was killed. Here's the latest
Authorities in Utah renewed calls for public help in finding Charlie Kirk’s killer on Thursday night, as the second day in the manhunt drew near a close.
Here are the latest developments:
- Plea for public’s help: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox urged anyone with knowledge of Kirk’s killing to contact law enforcement, saying authorities “cannot do our job without the public’s help right now.” The FBI received more than 7,000 “leads and tips,” Cox said, adding that investigators have conducted nearly 200 interviews.
- New video: Footage obtained by CNN shows a person matching the suspect’s description walking in a residential area near the Utah Valley University campus before the shooting. Authorities believe the shooter arrived on campus at 11:52 a.m. Authorities released other footage they say shows the suspect fleeing the roof of a campus building and heading for a wooded area, noting the suspect left possible traces of DNA.
- Student saw man on roof: A Utah Valley student told CNN they saw a man walking on or near the roof of the Losee Center twice in two weeks. The student called the man’s behavior “weird” and said a professor who was also there called out to ask if the man was okay.
- Trump administration offers support: Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance escorted Erika Kirk and her husband’s casket to Phoenix on a flight aboard Air Force Two from Salt Lake City. The second lady held Kirk’s hand as they got off the plane. President Donald Trump announced plans to award Kirk a Presidential Medal of Freedom and said he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral in Arizona.
In pictures: Vigils for Charlie Kirk held across the US
“You didn't deserve it,” air traffic controller honors Charlie Kirk as casket lands in Arizona
An air traffic controller paid tribute to Charlie Kirk as his casket on board Air Force 2 landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on Wednesday.
“Welcome home, Charlie. You didn’t deserve it. May God bless your family,” said the controller, in audio captured by LiveATC.net.
Residents near Utah campus express shock over Charlie Kirk’s killing – and fear with suspect still at large
The fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk and the subsequent swarms of law enforcement officers looking for his killer have shattered the usual calm in a neighborhood next to Utah Valley University, CNN affiliate KSTU reported.
“It’s disturbing because you don’t know if this person is still around,” one woman who lives there said, adding, “It is scary to think of that this person came so close to us and to our neighbors.”
Law enforcement officers canvassed the neighborhood all day and into the evening after Kirk was killed Wednesday, she told KSTU. She said police searched an area near her backyard for any trace of the shooter.
Residents have been turning any home surveillance video they have over to police, another resident said, calling his neighborhood “a safe place … a calm place.”
“We have students going up and down the street all day long, and it’s never been a threat to our safety,” the man said.
Utah House Democratic leaders call for de-escalation after Kirk shooting and threatening voicemail
One day after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, Utah House Democrats denounced political vitriol, noting they received a threatening phone call, CNN affiliate KSTU reported.
In a voicemail left on the House Minority Caucus’ general number and obtained by KSTU, a man is heard calling Democratic state lawmakers “murderous, terrorist animals.”
Democratic state House Minority Leader Angela Romero told KSTU she was alarmed by the “threatening” message.
Romero said vitriol has “escalated” in recent years but “I think we can tone it down if we all work together.”
“I don’t know if everyone is willing to do that,” she added.
State House Speaker Mike Schultz, a Republican, also condemned political violence, KSTU reported.
“Political violence should never happen, any type of violence should never happen, and the fact that it’s continuing to happen, the Minnesota shootings a few months ago, now this. We can do better,” he said, referring to the fatal shootings of Minnesota’s former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband in June.
JUST IN: House camera captures person matching suspect's description walking near campus
Footage obtained by CNN shows a person matching the description and images of the suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk walking on a residential street before the shooting.
CNN has geolocated the video to a neighborhood near Utah Valley University campus.
The person in the video appears to pause at a tree before turning and walking toward the university.
The hour shown in the video timecode was not set to match local time, according to the owner of the footage. Authorities said the suspect arrived on campus at 11:52 a.m.
Analysis: An entire way of doing politics is at risk
America may be getting too dangerous for politics.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump’s ambassador to youthful conservatives, has stirred such a sense of shock that some lawmakers are now rethinking the kind of freewheeling, outdoor campaigning that his barnstorming college tours were meant to preserve.
The risks courted by those who mount a public pedestal were laid bare a day after Kirk’s murder in Utah, a sickening capstone on 12 months of political violence.
The balance between political free association and security that every candidate must assess now risks being tilted toward restricted indoor gatherings, smaller audiences and less interaction with voters.
That would mean politics — already being tarnished by the social media swamps where it’s increasingly conducted — would risk becoming even more radicalized, distanced from voters and dominated by stunts rather than issues.
“I like being accessible, but being accessible is starting to look like being vulnerable,” North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said Thursday.
One change after the killing of Kirk, at a big outdoor event, might be to move gatherings indoors.
Kirk supporters see his killing as an "inflection point" for the young conservative movement, reporter says
Charlie Kirk supporters see his killing as “an inflection point,” Time Magazine’s national political reporter Eric Cortellessa told CNN’s Abby Phillips.
Cortellessa, who wrote Time’s cover story “The Killing of Charlie Kirk and the Political Violence Haunting America,” said the killing may become a “rallying cry” for his supporters and could further galvanize young people’s shift toward the conservative movement.
Speaking alongside Cortellessa, Will Sommer, senior reporter at news site The Bulwark, said a presidential run “certainly could have been something in his future.”
Despite being so young, Kirk “had an enormous political machine behind him,” Sommer said.
These students asked Charlie Kirk questions before he was shot. Here's what they have to say
CNN’s Erin Burnett hears from students who attended Charlie Kirk’s event at Utah Valley University, where he was fatally shot.
Utah Valley University student recalls seeing man walking on or near Losee Center roof twice in two weeks
A Utah Valley University student told CNN on Thursday night he saw a man walking on or near the roof of the Losee Center twice in the last two weeks.
The student said he was not sure it was the same person depicted in photographs released by police in connection with Charlie Kirk’s killing, but that the individual “looked familiar.” The student said it was unusual to see someone on that part of the roof.
“It was weird,” he said.
The student said he last saw the person on the roof last Wednesday at noon, a week before the shooting.
He told CNN that he reported his observations to the FBI tipline after the shooting, but has not heard back.
The student described the man as a “tall, skinny-ish white dude [who] had dark hair. He had this backpack on and was wearing dark clothes.” He added that the man was looking down at the courtyard area where Kirk’s speaking engagement was later held.
At the time, the student said, he thought it unusual for a person to be near the roof, but he did not report it to authorities.
He said a professor also noticed the man on the roof and called out to him. According to the student, the professor asked, “Hey, man, are you doing all right?” and the man on the roof “just kind of dismissed what he said.”
"We're living in this era of assassination culture," says CNN law enforcement analyst
Targeted killings of high-profile figures in the US are “not going away,” warned CNN’s Law Enforcement Analyst Jonathan Wackrow.
“Since Luigi Mangione, we’re living in this era of assassination culture where targeted killings tied to ideology have become almost the norm,” he told CNN’s Abby Phillips.
Mangione is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson last year.
New video shows suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting running from school into wooded area
New video released by the Utah Department of Public Safety shows the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s murder running across the roof of a school building, and eventually going into the wooded area where officials found the gun, DPS Commissioner Beau Mason said at a news conference.
The video starts by showing the suspect on the top left corner of a school roof, where the person runs behind an upper portion of the building and to the far-right corner.
The suspect then climbs off the building, leaving palm impressions, some smudges that might have DNA and a shoe imprint, which has led investigators to conclude the suspect is wearing Converse sneakers, Mason said.
Once the suspect gets off the side of the building, the person runs across the grass next to a parking lot and into a wooded area nearby, he said.
Authorities have “no idea” whether Kirk’s shooter is still in Utah, top official tells NBC News
Authorities have “no idea” whether the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s shooting is still in Utah or across state lines, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason told NBC News in an interview today.
“We have no idea,” Mason told an NBC News correspondent when asked whether Kirk’s suspected shooter may still be close to the site of the shooting or even within state lines.
“We’re exploring leads for individuals that live close by,” he continued. “We literally have persons of interest, tips coming in on the tip line, that are spanning far and wide.”
“We cannot do our job without the public’s help," Gov. Cox says as search for shooting suspect continues
Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox is pleading with the public to speak out if they believe they know anything that could lead to the arrest of a shooter in the killing of Charlie Kirk.
So far, the FBI has received more than 7,000 leads and tips related to the shooting at Utah Valley University, Cox said.
The last time the agency received that many digital media tips from the public was following the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, Cox said during a news conference tonight.
Authorities intend to "pursue the death penalty," Utah governor says
In the final moments of a news conference on Wednesday evening, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said officials will “pursue the death penalty” once the suspect is found.
“We’ve been working with our attorneys, getting everything that we need — affidavits ready so that we can pursue the death penalty in this case,” Cox said. “And that will happen here in the state of Utah.”
Bots from Russia and China are “trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence,” governor says
Bots from Russia and China are working online “trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at today’s news conference.
“I would encourage you to ignore those, to turn off those streams and to spend a little more time with our families,” he added.
FBI Director Kash Patel does not speak at Utah news conference
FBI Director Kash Patel did not speak at the podium or answer questions at a news conference tonight with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
Patel stood with other officials near the podium as they provided the latest on the investigation into the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the campus of Utah Valley University yesterday.
Patel arrived in Orem, Utah, earlier today to assist with the investigation. A massive manhunt for the suspect is ongoing, with authorities asking for tips from the public to help with the search.
“We’ve had several briefings, and he’s had an opportunity to walk the crime scene,” Cox said of Patel.
Officials conducted 200 interviews in investigation
Investigators have conducted nearly 200 interviews as they work to get to the bottom of Charlie Kirk’s killing, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at a news conference.
He said 20 law enforcement partners are working on the investigation.
Suspect wore a black T-shirt with an American flag on it, Utah official says
The suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk wore a “very distinctive” black T-shirt with an American flag and what appears to be an eagle, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said in an evening news conference.
Utah officials shared photos of the suspect Thursday night. The suspect also wore blue jeans, a baseball cap with a triangle, Converse tennis shoes, sunglasses and a black backpack, the photos showed.
“Those are all identifiable items that we’re looking for,” Mason said, adding the items are “all things that we would ask the public to look for and try to identify if they know someone who has those items, who has been seen wearing those items.”
