Newly surfaced footage shows a figure on the roof of a Utah Valley University building in the moments before conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot during an outdoor campus event, a development that has become a focal point for investigators trying to reconstruct how the fatal attack unfolded. The short clip, recorded from ground level and circulated on social platforms before being aired by multiple outlets, appears to capture someone moving along the upper level of the university’s Losee Center with a clear sightline to the tented stage area where Kirk was taking questions. Officials have not authenticated any specific clip, but investigators have urged attendees and nearby residents to submit videos and photos to a designated evidence portal as they piece together the trajectory of a single round that ended the event and set off a manhunt across Orem and surrounding communities.
Kirk, 31, was shot shortly after midday during the first stop of a new run of campus appearances billed as part of his American Comeback Tour. The event, set up in a quad on the Orem campus, drew a crowd university officials estimated in the thousands. Witnesses reported one sharp crack, a collapse on stage, and a sudden rush of students and attendees scrambling for cover. Emergency responders arrived within minutes. Kirk was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead later in the afternoon.
By Thursday morning, authorities said the investigation was being led jointly by the Utah Department of Public Safety, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, Orem Police, and the FBI. Early official statements were muddled by contradictory claims about whether a suspect was in custody. State officials at one point said a person of interest had been detained; later updates stressed that no one had been formally arrested and that the search remained active. Investigators said they were reviewing campus surveillance feeds, 911 recordings, and videos posted online to produce a definitive timeline, and cautioned that they would not disclose speculative details while key leads were being vetted.
The new rooftop video slots into a growing archive of materials from the scene that investigators say can help identify the shooter’s position and route of escape. Law enforcement radio traffic and dispatch summaries described a potential firing point on or near the roof of the Losee Center, roughly 200 yards from the stage. Several witnesses told reporters they saw officers move quickly toward that building in the moments after the shot, shouting for people to get down and clearing paths for tactical teams. Overnight, police cordoned off parts of campus and nearby streets while crime scene specialists photographed sightlines, logged potential bullet impact sites, and canvassed for additional footage shot from dorms and offices overlooking the quad. Shots fired at TPUSA event with Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University (UVU) just now. pic.twitter.com/U9uUKrgY4r — American Muckrakers (@AmericanMuck) September 10, 2025