A video clip posted to social media and later enhanced by The Washington Post shows a person running along a roof overlooking the Utah Valley University courtyard where conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been fatally shot just moments before.
Video: The alleged shooter on the roof running away / Reuters/courtesy Tanner McKay Maxwell
According to The Washington Post, a business school student at the university named Tanner Maxwell was filming the crowd that had gathered to hear Kirk speak. Across the courtyard stood a campus building known as the Losee Center. "Right when I hit the camera is when I heard the shot go off," Maxwell conveyed to The Washington Post.
Video: A closeup of the alleged shooter on the roof / Social media
The footage circulated widely on Wednesday evening, with a figure on the Losee Center roof being barely visible. When zoomed in and stabilized, the video reveals an individual who appears to be dressed in dark clothing running for approximately two seconds before leaving the frame as the camera pans, an analysis by The Washington Post found. The roof is located roughly 140 yards from where Kirk was shot.
Friend of a friend spotted the shooter on the roof before Charlie Kirk's assassination pic.twitter.com/pWUlpiBKit
— Chad Feldheimer (@ChadFeldheimer3) September 10, 2025
After the shooting, other video footage shows yellow police tape securing the area where the individual was seen running. A small group of police officers is stationed nearby. Late Wednesday, university spokeswoman Ellen Treanor stated that "the shot came from the direction of the Losee Center."
Kirk, 31, a key ally of President Donald Trump and founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was struck in the neck and subsequently pronounced dead. At least two people were briefly detained after the incident but were quickly released. No suspects have been identified or charged, and it is not clear if the individual on the roof was involved in any capacity.
Beau Mason, commissioner for the Utah Department of Public Safety, said at a press conference that the gunshot appeared to be "a longer-distance shot from a roof." He also stated a person of interest was dressed entirely in dark clothing. The Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement that the gunman "is believed to have fired from the roof of a building down to the location of the public event in the student courtyard."
A 20-second video taken from another angle, seemingly before the shooting, shows a motionless black shape in the same area of the roof. "So there's somebody on the roof right there," one person is heard saying, adding that the person had just run across the roof before assuming that position, a review of the footage by The Washington Post confirmed.
