Charlie Kirk slaying: Shooter still on the run as $100K reward offered for info

by · UPI

Sept. 11 (UPI) -- The FBI announced it is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person responsible for the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.

The announcement said those with information can call the FBI or submit images and videos to its website.

During a press conference Thursday night, authorities released additional video and photos of the suspect, repeating their call for members of the public with information to come forward.

The video shows the roof of a building that Beau Mason, commissioner for the Utah Department of Public Safety, said the alleged shooter had taken the shot from. It is about 200 yards from the outdoor event where Kirk was speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

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As the video played, Mason narrated. In the clip, the suspect is seen traveling across the roof to the edge of the building, which he descended before fleeing into the woods.

Mason told reporters that from the building they were able to retrieve palm impressions and are looking to collect DNA. A shoe imprint was found that he said indicated the suspect was wearing Converse tennis shoes.

It was announced earlier Thursday that a high-powered bolt-action rifle had been found in the woods near the shooting. Mason explained the video is what they used to track the suspect's movements and to locate the firearm believed to have been used to shoot Kirk.

The FBI has released a photo of the alleged suspect, with the Utah Department of Public Safety releasing additional images of the suspect Thursday night.

The suspect is described as being dressed in black. The released photos show him wearing a black hat, sunglasses and a backpack.

The suspect is believed to be college-aged. Officials are working "around the clock" to locate the person, officials said during an earlier Thursday press conference.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said they have already received more than 7,000 tips from the public, the most digital media tips and information that the FBI has received since the Boston Marathon bombing of April 2013.

More than 200 interviews have already been conducted, he said.

Cox also warned the public against the "tremendous amount of disinformation" being spread online, stating bots from Russia and China are attempting to encourage further violence.

"What we're seeing is our adversaries want violence," he said.

Authorities have said the shooter arrived on the university's campus at 11:52 a.m. MDT. Mason told reporters in an earlier press conference Thursday that they tracked the suspect through stairwells and up to and across the roof from where the person fired the fatal shot.

Mason said they are using technology to try to identify the person.

"We are confident in our abilities right now, and we would like to move forward in a manner that keeps everyone safe and then moves this process appropriately," Mason said.

The FBI laboratory will analyze the weapon.

Two other suspects have been interviewed by police and released. They are no longer considered suspects.

At a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon on Thursday, President Donald Trump said he will award Charlie Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The date will be announced, he said, and "I can only guarantee you one thing, we will have a very big crowd, very, very big."

"Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt. Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people," he said at the beginning of his speech.

"Our prayers are with his wonderful wife, Erika, and his beautiful children -- fantastic people, they are. We miss him greatly, yet I have no doubt that Charlie's voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on."

In a video Wednesday night, Trump blamed the "radical left" for the shooting.

"It's long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequences of demonizing those with whom you disagree, day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible," Trump said, speaking directly to the American people in a four-minute recorded statement shot in the Oval Office.

"For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop now."

He listed several attacks against conservatives, but didn't mention any against liberals.