Authorities have taken into custody the particular person they think of taking pictures 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 instructed ABC Information.
Robinson’s father acknowledged him because the particular person being sought by police after authorities distributed images.
Flowers sit subsequent to the Utah Valley College sign up a makeshift memorial for political activist Charlie Kirk, September 11, 2025 in Orem, Utah.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Pictures
The daddy initially instructed 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 turn out to be extra political lately, and engaged in a dialog with a member of the family about Kirk’s go to to the Utah Valley College campus the night time 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 fitting, after which three arrows pointing down, “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao, ciao!,” and “Should you learn this, you’re GAY Lmao.”
Tyler Robinson, 22 has been recognized because the particular person suspected of taking pictures and killing Charlie Kirk.
Fb
When regulation enforcement recognized Robinson, in addition 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 have to retrieve a rifle from a drop level, leaving the rifle in a bush,” Cox stated. “Messages associated to a to visually watching the realm 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 car he arrived in on campus.
He additionally thanked Robinson’s household, “who did the fitting factor.”
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that regulation enforcement caught Robinson inside 33 hours of the taking pictures and was on scene inside 16 minutes.
“It is a very a lot an ongoing investigation, because the governor stated, and we’ll 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 structure 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 particular person 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 carrying “distinct clothes” that would assist in his identification, together with Converse sneakers.
He stated the particular person 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 taking pictures of Charlie Kirk.
FBI
“We’re investing every part we’ve into this and we’ll catch this particular person,” Mason stated on the information convention.
Authorities had obtained greater than 7,000 ideas and leads and accomplished some 200 interviews, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox stated.
Throughout a information convention on Thursday morning, Robert Bohls, particular agent answerable for 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 taking pictures of Charlie Kirk.
FBI Salt Lake Metropolis
Extra particularly, a number of regulation enforcement sources with data of the investigation instructed 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 varsity. 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 instructed 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 finding out “good video footage” of the shooter that they’ve used to trace his actions earlier than and after the taking pictures.
The FBI launched photographs of an individual of curiosity sought in reference to the lethal taking pictures of Charlie Kirk.
FBI Salt Lake Metropolis
Following Thursday’s information convention, the FBI in Salt Lake Metropolis launched surveillance photographs of the particular person of curiosity needed in reference to the taking pictures. The photographs present an individual who seems to be a white male, carrying all darkish clothes, together with a darkish long-sleeved collarless prime with what seems to be a picture on the entrance that features an American flag. The person within the photographs can also be carrying a darkish ball cap and sun shades.
The FBI introduced a $100,000 reward is being provided for info 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 chatting with a crowd, authorities estimate was about 3,000 individuals. He didn’t disclose which constructing the shooter fired from.
“Now we have tracked his actions onto the campus, by way of stairwells, as much as the roof, throughout the roof to the taking pictures location,” Mason stated. “After the taking pictures, we had been in a position to monitor his actions as he moved to the opposite aspect of the constructing, jumped off of the constructing, and fled off of the campus right into a neighborhood.”
A drone view exhibits 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 investigate.
“The person seems to be of faculty age,” stated Mason, including that the particular person 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 taking pictures right down to the final element, together with discarding the potential homicide weapon alongside his escape path.
“He in all probability did that (as a result of) he did not need to be seen carrying a weapon, working by way of a neighborhood, or strolling by way of a neighborhood,” Garrett stated.
Proper-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk throws hats to the gang 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 by way of Reuters
Garrett stated the invention of the weapon is a significant clue that can give investigators further results in monitor down.
“The place did it come from? It might very properly be registered or bought by this shooter. We’ll must see,” Garrett stated. “Was it stolen? No matter it is likely to be, the ATF (the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) will assist them instantly, they usually in all probability 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 whole hand, as an instance 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 might additionally make clear the identification of the gunman.
“My guess is … a scope and a tripod would have helped him lots for steadiness, however the true secret is if he was in a position, and sadly did, hearth one shot that killed Charlie Kirk, that is exhibiting some proficiency as a result of it’s totally troublesome to have the respiratory and the focus to tug off one shot like that and that is what killed the particular person,” Garrett stated. “Does that recommend prior coaching? Possibly. It definitely suggests any individual who’s been practising lots with this weapon or some weapons identical to this.”
Garrett stated investigators are probably 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 realm? If he is good, then he did,” Garrett stated. “However many instances, these sorts of shooters do not do this.”
