Authorities have taken into custody the individual they think of capturing and killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at a Utah college campus occasion.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was taken into custody in St. George, Utah, on Friday, authorities and sources advised ABC Information.
Robinson’s father acknowledged him because the individual being sought by police after authorities distributed images.
Flowers sit subsequent to the Utah Valley College check in a makeshift memorial for political activist Charlie Kirk, September 11, 2025 in Orem, Utah.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Photos
The daddy initially advised Robinson to show himself in. Robinson initially stated no, however later modified his thoughts, officers stated.
The daddy then known as a youth pastor, who can also be a U.S. Marshals process power officer. The officer suggested the daddy to have Robinson keep in place.
At a press convention on Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox stated Robinson had develop into extra political in recent times, and engaged in a dialog with a member of the family about Kirk’s go to to the Utah Valley College campus the evening earlier than.
Cox additionally described what was engraved on the casings discovered on the scene.
The primary casing, in accordance with Cox, stated “Notices Bulge OWO what’s this??”
The opposite three unfired casing stated: “Hey fascist! CATCH!” with an arrow image pointing up, then to the correct, after which three arrows pointing down, “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao, ciao!,” and “When you learn this, you might be GAY Lmao.”
Tyler Robinson, 22 has been recognized because the individual suspected of capturing and killing Charlie Kirk.
Fb
When regulation enforcement recognized Robinson, additionally they interviewed Robinson’s roommate who confirmed them a message between Robinson and his roommate.
“The content material of those messages included messages affiliated with the contact Tyler, stating a must retrieve a rifle from a drop level, leaving the rifle in a bush,” Cox stated. “Messages associated to a to visually watching the world the place a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel. The messages additionally referred to engraving bullets and a point out of a scope and the rifle being distinctive. Messages from the contact Tyler additionally talked about that he had modified outfits.”
Cox stated Robinson arrived on campus driving a grey Dodge Challenger, which matched his automobile he arrived in on campus.
He additionally thanked Robinson’s household, “who did the correct factor.”
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that regulation enforcement caught Robinson inside 33 hours of the capturing and was on scene inside 16 minutes.
“This can be a very a lot an ongoing investigation, because the governor stated, and we are going to proceed to work with state and native authorities to develop the investigation to offer them the proof they want for his or her ongoing prosecutions,” Patel stated.
Authorities and a former FBI agent beforehand stated they believed the topic to be a college-aged particular person with an obvious proficiency in dealing with a high-powered rifle and sure knew the format of the college the place the murder occurred.
President Donald Trump initially introduced the arrest, stating on “Fox and Pals” on Friday morning, “I believe with excessive diploma of certainty, we’ve him in custody.”
Throughout a information convention on Thursday night, state and federal officers launched video of the individual of curiosity leaping down from the roof of a constructing on the campus.
Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Division of Public Security, stated the suspect was sporting “distinct clothes” that would assist in his identification, together with Converse sneakers.
He stated the individual seen within the video leaping from the roof left shoe impressions and a palm print.
A nonetheless from a video launched by the FBI of the suspected gunman within the deadly capturing of Charlie Kirk.
FBI
“We’re investing every thing we’ve into this and we are going to catch this particular person,” Mason stated on the information convention.
Authorities had obtained greater than 7,000 suggestions and leads and accomplished some 200 interviews, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox stated.
Throughout a information convention on Thursday morning, Robert Bohls, particular agent in control of the FBI’s Salt Lake Metropolis subject workplace, stated investigators imagine they’ve recovered the weapon utilized in what the governor of Utah on Wednesday known as a “political assassination.”
Bohls stated the weapon, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, was discovered discarded in a wooded space close to Utah Valley College (UVU) in Orem, and is being analyzed at an FBI laboratory for any clues that may establish the gunman.
The FBI launched photographs of an individual of curiosity sought in reference to the lethal capturing of Charlie Kirk.
FBI Salt Lake Metropolis
Extra particularly, a number of regulation enforcement sources with data of the investigation advised ABC Information that the weapon is an older mannequin imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle that was discovered wrapped in a towel in a wooded space close to the college. The sources stated a spent cartridge was found within the chamber of the gun.
The gun and cartridges recovered are to be flown to the FBI’s essential laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for probably the most technologically superior forensic evaluation, regulation enforcement sources advised ABC Information. The main focus is to search for any latent fingerprints and DNA, the sources stated.
Investigators additionally collected a footwear impression, a palm print and forearm prints for evaluation, Bohls stated.
Mason stated that investigators are additionally learning “good video footage” of the shooter that they’ve used to trace his actions earlier than and after the capturing.
The FBI launched photographs of an individual of curiosity sought in reference to the lethal capturing of Charlie Kirk.
FBI Salt Lake Metropolis
Following Thursday’s information convention, the FBI in Salt Lake Metropolis launched surveillance photographs of the individual of curiosity wished in reference to the capturing. The pictures present an individual who seems to be a white male, sporting all darkish clothes, together with a darkish long-sleeved collarless high with what seems to be a picture on the entrance that features an American flag. The person within the photographs can also be sporting a darkish ball cap and sun shades.
The FBI introduced a $100,000 reward is being supplied for data resulting in the seize of the suspect.
Mason stated investigators imagine the suspect arrived on the UVU campus at 11:52 a.m. native time, about 28 minutes earlier than Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative grass roots group Turning Level USA, was shot. He stated the lethal shot was fired from a constructing a considerable distance from the place Kirk was talking to a crowd, authorities estimate was about 3,000 folks. He didn’t disclose which constructing the shooter fired from.
“We have now tracked his actions onto the campus, by stairwells, as much as the roof, throughout the roof to the capturing location,” Mason stated. “After the capturing, we have been capable of monitor his actions as he moved to the opposite facet of the constructing, jumped off of the constructing, and fled off of the campus right into a neighborhood.”
A drone view reveals the reported location of the shooter on a rooftop, on the scene the place U.S. right-wing activist, commentator, Charlie Kirk was fatally shot throughout an occasion at Utah Valley College, in Orem, Utah, September 11, 2025.
Cheney Orr/Reuters
He stated investigators combed the neighborhood for the suspect and contacted residents with doorbell cameras to research.
“The person seems to be of school age,” stated Mason, including that the individual of curiosity “blended in properly with the faculty establishment.”
Brad Garrett, a retired FBI agent and an ABC Information contributor, stated the proof investigators have shared to date paints an image of a suspect who deliberate the capturing right down to the final element, together with discarding the potential homicide weapon alongside his escape path.
“He most likely did that [because] he did not need to be seen carrying a weapon, operating by a neighborhood, or strolling by a neighborhood,” Garrett stated.
Proper-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk throws hats to the group shortly earlier than he was shot at a Utah Valley College talking occasion in Orem, Utah, Sept. 10, 2025.
Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune through Reuters
Garrett stated the invention of the weapon is a serious clue that may give investigators extra results in monitor down.
“The place did it come from? It may very properly be registered or bought by this shooter. We’ll should see,” Garrett stated. “Was it stolen? No matter it is perhaps, the ATF [the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] will assist them instantly, and so they most likely already know what that’s.”
Garrett stated the invention of the killer’s palm print can be useful.
“If he is ever had a full set of prints, the place you print the complete hand, to illustrate he’d been within the navy or some facet of the federal government or a contractor, they might have these,” Garrett stated. “That is a protracted shot, however they might have these.”
Garrett stated the gap from the place the shot was fired may additionally make clear the id of the gunman.
“My guess is … a scope and a tripod would have helped him quite a bit for steadiness, however the true key’s if he was in a position, and sadly did, fireplace one shot that killed Charlie Kirk, that is exhibiting some proficiency as a result of it’s extremely troublesome to have the respiration and the focus to drag off one shot like that and that is what killed the individual,” Garrett stated. “Does that counsel prior coaching? Possibly. It definitely suggests anyone who’s been working towards quite a bit with this weapon or some weapons identical to this.”
Garrett stated investigators are seemingly going to each gun vary and gun store within the space to find out if the gunman had visited them.
“The priority clearly as time goes on … did he go away the world? If he is good, then he did,” Garrett stated. “However many occasions, these sorts of shooters do not do this.”
