Authorities have taken into custody the particular person they believe 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 stated and sources advised ABC Information.
Robinson’s father acknowledged him because the particular person being sought by police after authorities distributed pictures.
This is what we learn about Robinson, how the capturing was carried out and the way he was caught.
Mugshot of Tyler Robinson, the suspect within the capturing of Charlie Kirk.
Courtesy of Gov. Spencer Cox
How Robinson was caught
President Donald Trump initially introduced the arrest, stating on “Fox and Buddies” on Friday morning, “I believe, with excessive diploma of certainty, now we have him in custody.”
Authorities confirmed the information throughout a press convention on Friday morning, with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox stating in opening remarks, “Good morning, women and gents. We acquired him.”
Cox stated that after Robinson’s father acknowledged his son within the distributed pictures, he 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 pressure officer. The officer suggested the daddy to have Robinson keep in place. This data was then conveyed to the FBI.
Cox thanked Robinson’s household, “who did the proper factor.”
Tyler Robinson, 22 has been recognized because the particular person suspected of capturing and killing Charlie Kirk.
Fb
In the course of the press convention, Cox stated that when legislation 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.
The messages additionally referred to engraving bullets and a point out of a scope and the rifle being distinctive.
The rifle is an older mannequin imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt motion rifle wrapped in a towel, a number of legislation enforcement sources advised ABC Information. The situation of the firearm seems to match the suspect’s route of journey, the sources stated.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that legislation enforcement caught Robinson inside 33 hours of the capturing and had been on scene when the capturing occurred inside 16 minutes.
“It is 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 supply them the proof they want for his or her ongoing prosecutions,” Patel stated.
How the capturing was carried out
Cox stated on Friday that surveillance video footage from Utah Valley College reviewed by investigators confirmed Robinson arriving on campus at 8:29 a.m. ET on the morning of the capturing, driving a grey Dodge Challenger.
Robinson was sporting a plain maroon T-shirt, light-colored shorts, light-colored sneakers and a black hat with a white emblem, in accordance with Cox.
Officers acknowledged that Robinson turned into darkish clothes on campus and, after the capturing, modified again into the unique garments.
Cox additionally described what was engraved on the casings discovered on the scene.
A nonetheless from a video launched by the FBI of the suspected gunman within the deadly capturing of Charlie Kirk.
FBI
Of the three unfired casings, one learn: “Hey fascist! CATCH!” with an arrow image pointing up, then to the proper, after which three arrows pointing down.
One other unfired casing learn “O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao, ciao!” seemingly in reference to Italian anti-fascist tune throughout World Conflict II and one other unfired casing learn “For those who learn this, you might be GAY Lmao.”
Previous to being recognized, 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.
Throughout a information convention on Thursday morning, Robert Bohls, particular agent in control of the FBI’s Salt Lake Metropolis discipline workplace, stated investigators consider they recovered the weapon utilized in what the governor of Utah on Wednesday known as a “political assassination.”
What we learn about Robinson
On the press convention, Cox stated Robinson had turn into “extra political lately.”
Robinson talked about throughout a dinner dialog with a member of the family that Kirk could be visiting Utah Valley College, in accordance with Cox. Robinson and the relations mentioned why they did not like Kirk and his viewpoints, and the member of the family acknowledged Kirk was “filled with hate and spreading hate,” Cox stated.
Officers stated Robinson was not enrolled at Utah Valley College and lived in Washington County, Utah, along with his household.
Robinson is at present enrolled at Dixie Technical School in Utah, a commerce faculty the place he was purportedly working towards changing into an electrician, in accordance with two individuals who know Robinson however requested to not be recognized.
The FBI launched pictures of an individual of curiosity sought in reference to the lethal capturing of Charlie Kirk.
FBI Salt Lake Metropolis
One of many people advised ABC Information that Robinson was not at school on the day of the Kirk capturing.
Previous to Dixie, Robinson attended Pine View Excessive College in St. George, graduating in 2021, in accordance with a web-based commencement video reviewed by ABC Information. He then attended Utah State College for one semester, in 2021, in accordance with a spokesperson for the college.
A classmate who says they’ve identified Robinson for years advised ABC Information they’re “shocked” to listen to Robinson might have carried out this assault, describing him as “pleasant” however “slightly extra reserved,” including that they “by no means actually heard him discuss political.”
The classmate added that they by no means noticed Robinson expressing any outward “hate or malice in the direction of different individuals.”
“I by no means heard him discuss politically,” stated the classmate, who emphasised that they weren’t shut buddies. “I by no means heard him speak about weapons.”
The manhunt for Robinson
Throughout a information convention on Thursday night, previous to figuring out Robinson, 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 sporting “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.
“We’re investing every little thing now we have into this and we are going to catch this particular person,” Mason stated on the information convention.
The FBI launched pictures of an individual of curiosity sought in reference to the lethal capturing of Charlie Kirk.
FBI Salt Lake Metropolis
Authorities had obtained greater than 7,000 suggestions and leads and accomplished some 200 interviews, Cox stated.
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.
The gun and cartridges recovered had been to be flown to the FBI’s major laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for probably the most technologically superior forensic evaluation, legislation enforcement sources advised ABC Information. The main target 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 capturing.
Following Thursday’s information convention, the FBI in Salt Lake Metropolis launched surveillance pictures of the particular person of curiosity needed in reference to the capturing. The photographs confirmed an individual who seems to be a white male, sporting 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 pictures 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 consider 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 grassroots group Turning Level USA, was shot.
Mason stated the lethal shot was fired from a constructing a considerable distance from the place Kirk was talking to a crowd that authorities estimate was about 3,000 individuals. He didn’t disclose which constructing the shooter fired from.
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
“We now have tracked his actions onto the campus, via stairwells, as much as the roof, throughout the roof to the capturing location,” Mason stated. “After the capturing, we had been capable of observe 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.”
He stated investigators combed the neighborhood for the suspect and contacted residents with doorbell cameras to research.
Brad Garrett, a retired FBI agent and an ABC Information contributor, stated the proof investigators have shared thus far paints an image of a suspect who deliberate the capturing all the way 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 via a neighborhood, or strolling via 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 killer’s palm print can be useful.
“If he is ever had a full set of prints, the place you print your entire hand, for example he’d been within the navy or some side of the federal government or a contractor, they might have these,” Garrett stated. “That is a protracted shot, however they might have these.”
ABC Information’ Megan Christie, Laura Romero, Mike Levine, Lucien Bruggeman and Tonya Simpson contributed to this report.
