A chilling new video shows the person of interest in Charlie Kirk’s assassination hobbling toward Utah Valley University just minutes before the conservative activist was shot dead.
TMZ has obtained footage from a neighborhood camera in Orem, Utah, timestamped 11:49AM on Wednesday (September 10).
The clip shows a man dressed in all black - matching the FBI’s description - walking with a strange speed only blocks from the UVU campus.
Authorities believe the awkward walk may have been caused by the suspect concealing a Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle under his clothing. That same type of weapon was later recovered in a wooded area along the shooter’s escape path.
Minutes after the 12:20PM shooting, as students were evacuating, another video captured a figure dressed in black sprinting through a backyard in the opposite direction of the crowd.
Everyone else in the clip can be seen calmly walking down the paved road, underscoring the suspect’s frantic flight.
Law enforcement has since canvassed the neighborhood, collecting multiple surveillance videos turned over to investigators.
The Utah Department of Public Safety has released additional images of the person of interest, while the FBI has offered $100,000 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
The assassination unfolded in front of nearly 3,000 people during Kirk’s “Prove Me Wrong” event. Hunter Kozak, 29, a UVU mathematics student who goes by Hunter Stax online, was the last person to debate him.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” Kozak asked.
“Too many,” Kirk replied. Kozak countered that the number was five. “Counting or not counting gang violence?” were Kirk’s final words before the fatal bullet struck him in the throat.
In a video posted the next day, Kozak reflected on the tragic irony. “People have obviously pointed out the irony that I was — that the point I’m trying to make is how peaceful the left was right before he got shot. And that only makes sense if we stay peaceful.”
The man condemned online trolls who celebrated Kirk’s death, saying: “First off, you sick f***ing psychos that think this is the answer, it’s not,” he said, close to tears. “Charlie had two kids and a wife, and not to make this about me, but I have two kids and a wife and if my one-year-old boy, like his one-year-old boy, would grow up without memories of his dad…it’s a tragedy.
“I stand by so little of everything that he said, but one of the things that he stood by was conversation,” he added.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox, appearing with FBI Director Kash Patel, said on Thursday (September 11) that the bureau had received over 7,000 leads.
“We cannot do our job without the public’s help,” Cox said, warning that foreign bots were spreading disinformation to stir violence.
“Our adversaries want violence. We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world that are trying to instil disinformation and encourage violence. I would encourage you to ignore those, to turn off those streams," he added, per The Guardian.
Cox pledged to pursue the death penalty once the killer is caught.
The shooter, last seen fleeing into a neighborhood after the killing, remains at large.